Firefighters: Pre-K and Family Storytime

Firefighters:

 

Pre-K                    

43 kids

5 siblings

32 adults

 

  

The kids are always so good at guessing the theme!

 

Books:

 

Fire Fighter PiggyWiggy by Christyan Fox.  A young pig imagines what it would be like to be a fearless fire fighter who slides down a pole, drives a fire engine, and saves someone from danger.

 

Fire Truck by Ivan Ultz.  This is a "Sing and Read" book published by scholastic.  We watched a projected version of it.  I love that by the time we get about half way through all the kids are singing along.  YouTube link

 

 

"Flannel" (I used clip art today):

 

Who uses this?  Police officer or firefighter?  I held up different pictures and the kids called out which side of the board I should put them on:

 

 

Movement:

Five Brave Firefighters
I got this idea straight from Read, Rhyme and Sing's blog Check out her craft.  It's really fun!!!

5 brave firefighters waiting by the pole
Ring, ring, ring goes the bell (I rang the bells you see on the board)
And down one goes

The kids stood as we did the rhyme and "rang" scarves.  We slid down the pole the normal way - then really fast, really slow, and then while spinning around.

 

Music/Movement:

We sang "Drive the Fire Truck" with scarves (listen to sample here).  It's a short song so we sang it a few times.

Hurry! Hurry! Drive the fire truck X3
Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding!
Hurry! Hurry! Put the latter up X3
Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding!
Hurry! Hurry! Put the fire out X3
Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding!
Hurry! Hurry! Drive the fire truck X3
Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding!
Whew!

 

Letter of the Day:

I randomly flipped to a page in the book Firefighters A - Z and landed on H:

 

Craft:  The kids made firefighters that I will cut out and glue onto a large piece of poster board.  Then I will paint a verrrry long hose connecting them all.  I will present this card from our kids at Perry to our community firefighters at the Gilbert Fire Station.

 

Some of our finished firefighters:

 

How the card will be assembled:

Family Storytime:

Miss Erica - always dressed for the theme and all ready to do Family Storytime with me tonight:

 

Letter Activity:  I left the crayons and markers out from this morning so the kids can work on this activity if they'd like F for firefighters

 

Wiggle Worms - We appreciate our community helpers!

This week is a week in American history where I like to emphasize my appreciation for our community helpers, especially firefighters and police officers! 

Thank you!

Mr. Bear, our weekly Wiggle Worms mascot, showed his appreciation too.

 

 

 

 Letter of the Day:  Ff  for fire truck

 We then used our bodies to make the letter "F"

 

 

Music Activity:

 

We sang "Drive the Fire Truck" (listen to sample here) with scarves.

 

Hurry!  Hurry! Drive the fire truck X3

Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding!

Hurry! Hurry! Put the ladder up X3

Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding!

Hurry! Hurry! Put the fire out X3

Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding!

Hurry! Hurry! Drive the fire truck X3

Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding!

Whew!

Dragons!

I had fun reading about dragons yesterday with my Pre-K and Family Storytime groups!

Theme: Dragons

Draw and Tell Story:  "The Emperor's Dragon" by Dianne De La Casas.  I had the joy of attending her workshop at an ALA conference in Anaheim a few years ago.  This story comes from Handmade Tales: Stories to Make and Take

Books:

If I Had a Dragon by Tom Ellery. Tired of playing with his little brother, a boy imagines what it would be like to have a dragon for a playmate instead.

Not  Your Typical Dragon by Dan Bar-el.  When Crispin turns seven, he's expected to breath fire like all other dragons, but despite all efforts, he can't.

Meet Crispin (from Not Your Typical Dragon):

On this birthday, he breathes whipped cream instead of fire while trying to light his own candles:

Crispin breathes band aids at the Dragon Doctor's office:

 

Even after pink medicine, all Crispin can muster out is marshmallows, teddy bears, beach balls...

...and bubbles!

 

 

At a friendly knight's suggestion, Crispin eats a whole can of spicy chilies.... but only breathes out red party ribbons:

 

 

Here's an extra spicy chilie for you, Crispin:

 

 When Crispin's father starts a fire that sets the whole town ablaze, Crispin is the only heroic dragon that can breathe water to save the day!  (Yes, the kids got spritzed) (And cheered!)

When everyone celebrated, who else would provide the music?  - Crispin, of course!

 

Music Movement:

 

 

"Dragon Hunt"

We marched along to a really fun song called "Dragon Hunt".  We encountered all sorts of obstacles before finding Crispin in the cave.

 

Movement Rhymes:

 

Little Dragon (from King County Library System)

 

Little dragon counts to three,

Little dragon bends one knee.

Little dragon touches his toes,

Little dragon touches his nose.

Little dragon makes a funny face,

Little dragon runs in place.

Little dragon lays on the floor,

Little dragon starts to snore.

 

Swing Your Dragon Tail (by Miss Rebekah at Jacksonville Public Library

 

Turn around once and swing your dragon tail.

Turn around twice and flap your wings like sails.

Turn around three times, stomp your feet and roar.

Jump up high and then sit down on the floor.

 

Letter of the Day:  Dd for dragon

We spelled out the word dragon with foam letters and then made the letter D with our bodies.

 

 

 

Ending Activity:

 

Pre-K Storytime:

 

Storytime ended with the kids doing a "Puff the Magic Dragon" parade around the library.  I only had 35 finger puppet dragons, so I pointed out the importance of ribbons and rhythm sticks in a parade too!  No issues.  As they paraded, "Puff the Magic Dragon" played loudly in the middle of the library and I lead them with my big dragon.

 

 

 

 

Evening Family Storytime:

 

This group has a lot of toddlers, so we ended (also in the middle of the library) with our very own bubble-breathing dragon.  Two of my co-workers jumped in so we had lots of bubbles going while "Bernie the Bubble Breathing Dragon" played.

 

 As always:

Parents:  You take lots of pictures in storytime!  Send them to me - I'd love to put them on my blog!
Email: tarabudka@gmail.com

Fellow programmers:  Any questions on resources or music?  Just contact me! Leave a comment and / email me at tarabudka@gmail.com

Pre-K Socks!

Who knew that socks could be so much fun?  (Or that ducks enjoyed socks so much?)

 

Books:

 

Duck Sock Hop by Jane Konuth.  In this tongue-twisting, toe-tapping picture book, ducks grab socks from a big sock box and head on down to the duck sock hop.

Ducks Don't Wear Socks by John Nedwidek.  Emily is a serious girl but slowly cracks when she sees silly duck day after day wearing human clothing.

 

The is another book where I really change the text to make it work for storytelling.  I used my flannel as I "read" the story to make it easier for the kids to see duck's silly antics.

 

 

 

 

New Socks by Bob Shea.  I didn't get to this one today, but it's about a chicken (I think?) who gains  confidence and a hip attitude when he wears his new orange socks.  Fun! Fun!

 

 

Music /  Movement:

 

We danced to two songs today:

 

"Sock Puppets" -  I always learn new sock puppet dance moves from my storytime kids!  Here are a few (of my 60) sock puppets the kids got to choose from for dancing to this song:

 

 

"BOOTS" - What a great song to stomp around to!  Before each new kind of boot is introduced in the song, we get to spell out (and stamp our feet to) the word "BOOTS".

 

 

Letter of the Day:  Ss (for socks, of course).

 

The kids sounded out the word "socks" with me and I spelled it out in foam letters.  We then used our bodies to make lots of letter S's around the room.

 

Flannel:

 

My "sock" version of "A-Hunting We Will Go"

 

A-hunting we will go (pat rhythm on legs)

A-hunting we will go (pat rhythm on legs)

We'll catch a fox

and put him in ______ socks (kids, call out the color when I hold the socks up)

and then we'll let him go! (shoo the fox away so he can have fun in his new socks!)

 

 

Even though they were pre-schoolers and already knew their colors, the kids had a lot of fun with this one because I told them to call out the color as QUICKLY as they could so they were very alert and eager to participate!

 

After fox had some fun in a few new pairs of socks, I introduced him to a friend..... awww a girl.... and the group decided she should wear pink socks.  Whew, because that is what I brought for her!

 

 

 

 

 

Alligators and Croc: Pre-K and Family Storytimes

8-15-13  Last week we read about alligators and crocodiles in storytime

Pre-K Storytime (Thursdays at 10:30)
52 kids
37 adults
89 total

Evening Family Storytime (Thursdays at 6pm)
34 kids
36 adults
70 total

Yup!  Summer vacations are over and library programs are in full swing!

Memory Box:  Hippo from Solomon Crocodile

Books: 

Solomon Crocodile by Catherine Rayner.  This book gets mixed reviews, but I love the bold, charming illustrations!  I think of Solomon as a puppy -  all he wants to do is play but he sure can be a pest!

Snip Snap by Mara Bergman.  Don't let the cover fool you.  This book is so fun!  An alligator creeps up the stairs, closer and closer to the children.  The author asks the audience several times:  "Were the children scared?" 

And we all answer:  "YOU BET THEY WERE!"

Finally, the children have enough of all this scary alligator stuff and tell him to, "GET OUT!"

Do you think he was scared?  YOU BET HE WAS!


Clarabella's Teeth by An Vrombaut.  What can you give a crocodile who spends all day brushing her teeth?  Clarabella's friends have the perfect gift!

The Watermelon Seed by Greg Pizzoli.  I read this one a few weeks ago, but it would have been great with this theme too.
Blog post here


Flannel / Prop:

The Alpha-gator

I couldn't resist making this prop when I found this poem about an alpha-gator who eats the alphabet; but those letters keep wreaking havic in his tummy.  http://www.perrypubliclibrary.org/webfm_send/17

Fingerplay / Movement
(From Miss Trish at Chandler Library)

I have the kids crawl toward me and then turn around and target their parents!

The alligator's jaws go snap snap snap
(snap arms in front of you)
The alligator's tail goes thwack thwack thwack
(swish arms like a tail)
And he's getting closer
(crawl)

... repeat....

GOTCHYA!
(grab/hug someone you know!)

Music / Movement
The kids danced with scarves to the lively song "Alligator Jump"

The chorus:

Alligators jump
Alligators slide
All the alligators like to move from side to side

Alligators grunt
Alligators giggle
All the alligators like to turn around and wiggle

Wiggle Worms Quack!

Letter of the Day: Qu for "quack"

Book:  Cicken, Chicken, Duck! by Nadia Krilanovich.  Simple words and large pictures tell the story of a barn yard game led by a noisy duck.

Now that my kid is two, books have to pass his approval before I share them with my groups.  My toddler loved this one so I read it today and had Michelle help turn it into a fun game.

The duck has a loud, playful outburst every two pages.  Every time he popped up in the book, my puppet popped up too to give the toddlers their cue to, "Quaaack!"  The anticipation was really fun!

Music / Movement:

We love the "Popcorn" song and today we spruced it up with some white pom poms from Oriental Trading.  There are lots of recorded versions of the popcorn song out there.

 

Flannel / Prop Rhyme:

 

"Mama Duck" by Peter & Ellen Allard

 

Here comes the Mama Duck - Quack!

Here comes the Mama Duck - Quack!

Here comes the Mama Duck and one little duckling - Quack!

 

(Keep adding "quacks!" and ducklings as the song goes on.

 

Listen to a sample of "Mama Duck" here