Kevin Roth Today!

Don't forget that Kevin Roth will be here today at 10:30 in place of the storytime I usually present.  He will be sharing his books about a lovable bunny named Wabby and playing songs for us on his dulcimer.

Wiggle Worms March 25, 2012

Animal Song: "If Animals Could Dance" (Sorry, CD not in collection)

Letter of the Day: Kk for kite

Book:  Big Fat Hen.  Big Fat Hen counts to ten in this classic rhyme with all her friends and all her chicks.  My Hen puppet popped out to say hello as we read, "9, 10, a big fat hen!"

Music: 

"Hokey Pokey" from the Wiggleworms CD (my favorite version!)

"Shake Your Sillies Out" (Sorry CD not in collection).  I love this version because we get to shake our sillies out, kick our kickers out, jump our jumpers out, hug our huggers out, clap our clappers out, and then jump really, really fast!

Flannel:  So Many Kites
(Adapted from http://www.nancymusic.com/SOM/2009/lots-of-cars.htm)

So many kites up in the sky (wave scarf or make diamond shape with hands)
What color kite is flying by? (X as many colors as you put up)

So manky kites up in the sky
What's the biggest/smallest/thinnest kite flying by?

Then we talked about patterns and where else they can see these patterns (on zebras, cheetahs, snails, etc.)
Finger Play:  Two Little Blackbirds We did this one last week too

Pre-K March 22, 2012 Spring!

Today we celebrated Spring!  It's a little less climatic here in Arizona (where we don't really have winter), but we still do get to enjoy the weather like folks in other states do.

Each child picked a colorful scarf on the way in to use throughout storytime.

Memory Box:  Rabbit (From Hurray for Spring!)

We discussed what happens in the spring and then sang the song below using flannel pieces and doing the actions/raising our scarves when we shout, "HOORAY FOR SPRINGTIME"

Flannel:

Books:
Hurray for Spring! by Patricia Hubbell.  Rhyming text (and stunning illustrations) celebrates the joys of spring.

Kite Day by Will Hillenbrand. Bear and Mole build a kite and take it out on a windy day, but when the weather suddenly turns stormy the birds are thankful for the kite.

Movement:
We danced to "The Ants Go Marching" using our scarves as umbrellas

Flannel:  So Many Kites
(Adapted from http://www.nancymusic.com/SOM/2009/lots-of-cars.htm)

So many kites up in the sky (wave scarf or make diamond shape with hands)
What color kite is flying by? (X as many colors as you put up)

So manky kites up in the sky
What's the biggest/smallest/thinnest kite flying by?

Then we talked about patterns and where else they can see these patterns (on zebras, cheetahs, snails, etc.)

Letter of the day:  Kk for kite (good guess, guys!)

Baby Time 3-21-12

We revisited some old favorites in storytime today.

Animal Song: Old MacDonald

Rhymes:

Noble Duke of York

The Noble Duke of York
He had ten thousand men
He marched them up to the top of the hill
and he marched them down again
And when they're up, they're up
And when they're down, they're down
And when they're only half way up
they're neither up nor down

He marched them to the left
He marched them to the right
He even marched (some of them) upside down....oh what a silly sight!

I'm Driving in my Car

I'm driving in my car
I'm driving in my car
Beep beep
Toot toot
I'm driving in my car

I'm driving really fast
I'm driving really fast
Beep beep
Toot toot
I'm driving really fast

....slow

Book:  The Itsy Bitsy Spider by Lorianne Siomades

Bouncing Song: My furry spider puppet helped me sing this fun version of "Itsy Bitsy Spider" by Hap Palmer where that determined little spider keep climbing until he finds your babies' toes and gives fun little tickles all the way up to their heads

Wiggle Worms 3-19-12

I don't necessarily theme my toddler program, but today it kind of worked out that our theme was birds.

Animal song: "Old MacDonald"

Letter of the Day: Bb for bird

Mr. Bear surprised us with another fun, seasonal outfit. Go D-backs!

Book:  Tweedle Dee Dee by Charlotte Voake

Movement:  We did "The Beanie Bag Dance" which I usually do with the older kids, but I think it's always fun to mix it up a little. 

Flannel:  "So Many Birds"
This idea is from http://www.nancymusic.com/SOM/2009/lots-of-cars.htm, a song about cars

So many birds flying in the tree
What color bird do you see?  X5 (for five colors)

So many birds flying in the tree
What is the biggest bird you see?

So many birds flying in the tree
What is the smallest bird you see?

(This tree is the tree used for Tweedle Dee Dee above. I actually use it for most of my flannel tree needs.  The birds and the green flannel from Tweedle Dee Dee stick to small pieces of white velcro on the foam board.  This tree was originally made for Caps for Sale.) 

Finger Play:  "Two Little Black Birds"

Two little black birds

Sitting on a hill

One named Jack

And one named Jill

Fly away, Jack

Fly away, Jill

Come back, Jack

Come back, Jill

Two little black birds

Sitting on a cloud

One named Quiet

And one named Loud

Fly away, Quiet

Fly away, Loud

Come back, Quiet

Come back, Loud

Two little black birds

Sitting in some snow

One named Fast

And one named Slow

Fly away, Fast

Fly away, Slow

Come back, Fast

Come back, Loud

 

Pre-K March 15, 2012 St. Patrick's Day!!

Today was great fun!!  We celebrated St. Patrick's Day and all things green.

Books:
Tweedle Dee Dee by Charlotte Voake.  In the woods there is a tree. And on the tree there is a branch. And on the branch there is a nest. And in the nest there is a bird.  And under the bird there are some eggs. And in the eggs are some baby birds.  And the green grass grows all around. 

I read this book while using some flannel pieces (thanks to the help of my good friend Lesley).  Before reading the book, we passed some green leaves out to the children with an illustration and a word from the book.  When they heard their word in the story, they help up their leaves.  The words were: birds, tree, eggs, branch, and nest. 

http://www.candlewick.com/book_files/ReadToUs_StoryHourKit.pdf

Good Luck Bear by Greg Foley.  When bear's friend Mouse tells him that finding a four leaf clover means one is lucky, the little bear searches for one.

Music:  We did the "Beanie Bag Dance" with some beanbags.  We danced while balancing the beanbags on our bodies and ended with the beanie bag toss!  (Sorry, CD not in our collection)

Letter of the Day: Gg for green

Game: I'm Thinking of Something Green.
The children guessed what green things we were thinking of based on our clues.

Movement:  We then discussed leprechauns and shamrocks and then did the "Leprechaun Leap" with some foam shamrocks.

Leprechauns jump forward and backwards
Forward and backwards
Forward and backwards
On Saint Patrick's Day

(they do lots of other stuff too like jump really high and spin around)

Now, for the magic....

Each child had a shamrock with a letter (A-D) on it.  I do this to prevent 40 kids from running up at once.  They held onto their shamrocks while I produced a large, magical cauldron.  I threw some rainbow in (streamers) and we said some magic words, but nothing magical happened....until we put our shamrocks in.  Groups A, B, C, and D put their shamrocks in and then we said the most magical, shamrocky phrase: Shazzle Dazzle! 

Much to our amazement, I pulled a SACK OF GOLD out of the cauldron.  The children followed the leprechaun footprints on the ground to form a line and each child got a piece of gold to take with them.

Baby Time 3-14-12

I missed everyone last week!  I was busy doing storytime evaluations for a program I co-created with a colleague. 

Today in Babytime:

Mr. Bear got seasonal again and wore his Diamond Backs outfit.  Mr. Bear is my puppet who welcomes the babies every week with a game of "Two Little Eyes" and then he sings for us.  Every now and again he gets fancy!

Animal Puppet Song:  "If I Was a Bird" by Wiggleworms

Book:  Hello, Day! by Anita Lobel. Animals greet the sunrise in their own unique voices, except for the owl who welcomes the night.

Rhymes:

Alligator:
The Alligator's jaws go snap, snap, snap
The Alligator's tail goes thwack, thwack, thwack
GOTCHYA!

(This rhyme can be played a little differently with older, mobile babies.  The alligator creeps closer each time you say the rhyme and then you can "get" your baby or even have them "get" you)

I Like to Ride My Bicycle:
I like to ride my bicycle
I ride it to the shop
and when I see the big RED light
I know it's time to STOP

I like to ride my bicycle
I ride it to and fro
And when I see the big GREEN light
I know it's time to GOOOO

Movement:  Instead of shakers, we celebrated rainbows!  St. Patty's Day is right around the corner so the babies shook colorful, rainbow ribbons to the Elizabeth Mitchell's "Big Rock Candy Mountain" on the CD Catch the Moon

Pre-K 3-8-12 Rainbows

 I wish I hadn't been feeling so under the weather on "Rainbow" day....but  I was determined to have storytime because I love holidays.  In anticipation of St. Patty's Day next week, we did some rainbow activities today.

Memory Box: Cat (from The Napping House)

Books:
The Napping House by Audrey Wood. In this cumulative tale, a wakeful flea atop of number of sleeping creatures causes a comotion....just in time to enjoy a beautiful, sunny rainbow day.

Planting a Rainbow by Lois Ehlert. A mother and child plant a rainbow of flowers.

Animal Colors: A Rainbow of Colors From Animals Around the World by Beth Fielding

After reading Animal Colors, we played a game with some animal clip art that I laminated.  I wrote this to rhyme as best I could.  Each child got one of seven animals and took turns standing up when they heard THEIR animal.  When it wasn't their turn to stand, they still did the motions of the other animals:

The red lobster goes pinch, pinch, pinch
The orange goldfish goes swish, swish, swish
The yellow frog goes hop, hop, hop
The green parrot goes squak, squak, squak
The blue butterfly goes flutter, flutter, flutter
The purple jellyfish flooaaats in the water

Ribbons: We used colorful ribbons to dance to Rainbow Dancers

Flannel:  Make a (fruity) rainbow
As we put different fruits into the cauldron and mixed them around, we pulled out the different colors of the rainbow. (Apple, orange, banana and lemmon, pear and lime, blueberries, grapes)

Letter of the Day: Rr for rainbow
I challenged the kids to think of as many animals as possible that start with the letter R

Wiggle Worms 3-5-12

Vrooom!  We did some driving in Wiggle Worms today.

Animal Song: Down on Grandpa's Farm

Letter of the Day: Rr for RED.  Strawberries, apples, stop signs, and Clifford are all RED.  Can you think of anything else?

Book: My Car by Byron Barton.  Sam describes his car and how he takes care of it.  This is a great author for this age group because the topics appeal to children, the text is simple, and the illustrations are bold and colorful.  You can check out his other books here.

Shakers: "Red Light, Green Light" (Sorry, CD not in collection)
Red light STOP
Green light GO
Yellow light means you gotta go sloooow
But what does a black light mean?
What does a black light mean?
It means you gotta dance, dance all around
Dance to the beat of the sound........

Flannel:  Adapted from Nancy Stewart's Lots of Cars
I sing it:
So many cars driving down the street
What color car do you see? X5 for five cars

So many cars driving down the street
What's the biggest car you see?

So many cars driving down the street
What's the smallest car you see?

So many cars driving down the street
What's the longest car you see?

This could work with lots of flannels...fish swimming  in the sea....birds singing in the tree....

Pre-K 3-1-12 Bugs and Creepy Crawlies

Today we read about bugs!  I was impressed by all the bugs the kiddos could identify and they even knew what a magnifying glass was.

Books:

I Love Bugs by Emma Dodd.  This book has great pictures and lots of bugs to discuss

Can You Make a Scary Face? by Jan Thomas.  A ladybug invites the kids to play a game of "make pretend"....until my very real frog comes out!

Music:  We used scarves for both our movement songs today

"The Ants go Marching" off the Songs for Wiggleworms CD
"Shoo Fly" (the kids shooed my fly puppet away as he buzzzzed around the room"

Flannel: Patternpillars http://fallingflannelboards.wordpress.com/2011/11/11/flannel-friday-patternpillars/
I was really surprised by the children's ability to predict the patterns and will definately have to challange them more next time!

Letter Match:  We figured out which bug words started with the letters B, C, S, and L

Fingerplays:
I'm A Little Beetle http://melissa.depperfamily.net/blog/?p=857
I'm a little _________and I wiggle all day
If you get too close
I'll FLY away!

Here is the Beehive
Here is the beehive
Where are all the bees?
They're hidden inside where nobody sees
Watch them come out of the hive
1, 2, 3, 4, 5 ......buzzzzzzzzz

Turtle
There was a little turtle
who lived inside a box
He swam in the water
and he climbed on the rocks
He snapped at a mosquito
He snapped at a flee
He snapped at a minnow
and he snapped at me

He caught the mosquito
He caught the flee
He caught the minnow
but he didn't catch me!