Storytime: Thanksgiving

Book – The Night Before Thanksgiving by Natasha Wing

Some Families
Some families are large (arms out wide)
Some families are small (put hands together)
But I love my family best of all! (hug self or child)
Source: Preschool Education

We Eat Turkey (Tune: Frere Jacques)
A great repeat after me song! First we went over the each food item (squash is the hardest, corn the easiest for this munkins) and I held up each card as we sang about it.

We eat turkey / We eat turkey
Oh so good / Oh so good
Always on Thanksgiving / Always on Thanksgiving
Yum, yum, yum / Yum, yum, yum

(repeat with mashed potatoes, corn, squash and pie)

Dinner’s over / Dinner’s over
We are stuffed / We are stuffed
What a great Thanksgiving / What a great Thanksgiving
Yum, yum, yum / Yum, yum, yum
Source: Story Time Secrets

Book – Feast for 10 by Cathryn Falwell

1 Little, 2 Little
1 little, 2 little, 3 little fingers (count on fingers)
4 little, 5 little, 6 little fingers
7 little, 8 little, 9 little fingers
10 little fingers on my hands

They wiggle and they wiggle and they wiggle all together (wiggle hands)
They wiggle and they wiggle and they wiggle all together
They wiggle and they wiggle and they wiggle all together
10 little fingers on my hands

They clap and they clap and they keep on clapping
They clap and they clap and they keep on clapping
They clap and they clap and they keep on clapping
10 little fingers on my hands
Source: Jbrary

Mr. Turkey
I have a turkey, big and fat (hold thumb up)
He spreads his tail and walks like that (spread fingers out on other hand behind thumb)
His daily corn he would not miss (have thumb “peck” at floor)
And when he talks, it sounds like this:
Gobble, gobble, gobble!
Source: Preschool Education

Turkey Hop by Carole Peterson
One of my favorite Carole Peterson songs!

Book – Thank You, Thanksgiving by David Milgrim

If You’re Thankful and You Know It (Tune: If You’re Happy and You Know It)
If you’re thankful and you know it clap your hands
If you’re thankful and you know it clap your hands
If you’re thankful and you know and you really want to show it
If you’re thankful and you know it clap your hands

…stomp your feet
…shout I am!

One Whole Pie (Flannel Board)

One whole pie set by the door,
Cut into pieces,
I count four.

Four pieces of pie, all for me
I ate one piece (num, num, num)
Now there are three.

Three pieces of pie, for me too
I ate another piece
Now there are two.

Two pieces of pie, oh what fun!
I ate another piece
Now there is one.

One piece of pie, I can’t wait!
I ate that last piece,
Oh no…. empty plate!
Source: Jen in the Library

Storytime: Halloween

Book – Where’s My Mummy? by Carolyn Crimi

Five Little Pumpkins
Five little pumpkins sitting on a gate (hold up 5 fingers)
The first one said, “Oh my, it’s getting late.” (put hands on cheeks)
The second one said, “There are witches in the air.” (shade eyes and look)
The third one said, “But we don’t care.” (shake finger side to side)
The fourth one said, “Let’s run and run and run.” (move arms like running)
The fifth one said, “I’m ready for some fun.” (punch fist into air)
Then oooooh went the wind and out went the lights. (wave hands and clap them)
And the five little pumpkins rolled out of sight. (roll arms)

Little Ghost
Little ghost, little ghost flying through the air (wave arms)
Little ghost, little ghost tickling my hair (hands on head)
Little ghost, little ghost flying way down low (lower arms)
Little ghost, little ghost tickling my toe (touch feet)
Little ghost, little ghost circling all around (wave arms)
Little ghost, little ghost please sit down

Book – Trick or Treat Countdown by Patricia Hubbard

Zoom, Zoom, Zoom (Witch Style)
Zoom, zoom, zoom
Climb onto my broom
Zoom, zoom, zoom
Climb onto my broom
If you want to go at night
To spread around Halloween fright
Zoom, zoom, zoom
Climb onto my broom
In 5, 4, 3, 2, 1
BOOO!

Source: Jbrary

Ten Little Ghosts
1 little, 2 little, 3 little ghosts
4 little, 5 little, 6 little ghosts
7 little, 8 little, 9 little ghosts
10 little ghosts say BOO!

Tickle Monster Flannel Board

I came across this on Thrive After Three and knew I had to make it! I have several story time kids that are obsessed with this book (to the point where I almost couldn’t check it out in time for the program). This book makes an amazing flannel board.

Storytime: Garden

Books

“Up, Down, and Around” by Katherine Ayres
“Growing Vegetable Soup” by Lois Ehlert
“The Carrot Seed” by Ruth Krauss

Five Fat Peas
Five fat peas in a peapod pressed (hold up 5 fingers and intertwine hands)
One grew, two grew and so did all the rest (raise fingers up 1 by 1)
They grew and they grew and they didn’t stop (slowly separate hands)
They grew and they grew until they popped! (clap hands)

Something in My Garden
I downloaded an app to my phone that plays animal noises. I would play the noise and ask the children what animal they thought it was. Then I would hold up a corresponding puppet. The kids loved this but after they learned the puppets were in my bag they kept taking them out for the rest of the storytime. I should have waited until the end to introduce them.
There’s something in my garden, now what can it be?
There’s something in my garden that I can’t really see
Hear it’s funny sound
A (animal) is what I found!

Farmer and His Seeds (Tune: Farmer in the Dell)
The farmer plants the seeds (pretend to plant seeds)
The farmer plants the seeds
Hi, ho the derry-o
The farmer plants the seeds

The sun comes out to shine (circle arms overhead)
The sun comes out to shine
Hi, ho the derry-o
The sun comes out to shine

The rain begins to fall (wiggle fingers down)
The rain begins to fall
Hi, ho, the derry-o
The rain begins to fall

The seeds begin to grow (slowly raise arms up)
The seeds begin to grow
Hi, ho the derry-o
The seeds begin to grow

The farmer picks the veggies (pulling motion)
The farmer picks the veggies
Hi, ho the derry-o
the farmer picks the veggies

Now we’ll have some soup (eating motion)
Now we’ll have some soup
Hi, ho the derry-o
Now we’ll have some soup

Out in the Garden (Tune: Down by the Station)
I bought this wonderful felt vegetables at Target in the dollar section and have been dying to use them! I originally planned to sing the song for each vegetable and have a rabbit puppet “eat” the veggies off of the felt board. The kids were a little crazed at this point and the rabbit was already bouncing around the storytime room.  Instead I have the children (who were already clustered around me) a veggie and asked them to feed the rabbit. They really seemed to enjoy it.

Out in the garden early in the morning
See the red tomatoes all in a row
See the hungry bunny coming out to eat them
Crunch, munch, crunch, munch, off he goes

(repeat with other vegetables)

Storytime: Family

Books

“Llama Llama Gram and Grandpa” by Anna Dewdney
“Guess How Much I Love You” by Sam McBratney
“The Family Book” by Todd Parr

Grandma’s Glasses
There are grandma’s glasses (circle fingers around eyes)
This is grandma’s hat (place hands above head)
And this is the way she folds her hands (interlace fingers)
And lays them in her lap (put hands in lap)

These are grandpa’s glasses (circle fingers around eyes)
This is grandpa’s hat (place hands above head)
And this is the way he folds his arms (fold arms across chest)
And takes a little nap (close eyes and snore)

My Family
This mama, kind and dear (tap or wiggle thumb)
This is papa, standing near (pointer finger)
This is brother, see how tall (middle finger)
This is sister, not so tall (ring finger)
This is baby, sweet and small (pinkie)
This is my family, one and all (wiggle fingers)

Source: Kididdles

Some Families
Some families are large (hold arms out wide)
Some families are small (bring hands close together)
But I love my family, best of all (hug self)

Who is Knocking at My Door? (Flannel Board)
Who is knocking at my door, at my door, at my door?
Who is knocking at my door?
Look! It’s mommy!

Let’s give mom a great big kiss, great big kiss, great big kiss (blow kiss)
Let’s give mom a great big kiss. Goodbye mommy!

Who is knocking at my door, at my door, at my door?
Who is knocking at my door?
Look! It’s Daddy.

Let’s give Dad a great big hug, great big hug, great big hug (hug self or child)
Let’s give Dad a great big hug.  Goodbye, Daddy!

Who is knocking at my door, at my door, at my door?
Who is knocking at my door?
Look! It’s Grandma.

Let’s give Grandma a great big smile, great big smile, great big smile (smile)
Let’s give Grandma a great big smile. Goodbye, Grandma!

Who is knocking at my door, at my door, at my door?
Who is knocking at my door?
Look! It’s Grandpa.

Let’s give Grandpa a great big wave, great big wave, great big wave (wave0
Let’s give Grandma a great big wave. Goodbye, Grandpa!

Who is knocking at my door, at my door, at my door?
Who is knocking at my door.
Look! It’s my family.

Let’s tell everyone I love you, I love you, I love.
Let’s tell everyone I love you.
I love my family!

Source: Kizclub (for family images)
Source: Story Time Secrets

Storytime: Picnic

Books

“It’s the Bear!” by Jez Alborough
“We’re Going on a Picnic!” by Pat Hutchins

Bananas Unite
Bananas unite! (clap hands over head)
Peel bananas, peel peel bananas (move hands down body)
Peel bananas, peel peel bananas
Chop bananas, chop chop bananas (make chopping motion with hands)
Chop bananas, chop chop bananas
Mash bananas, mash mash bananas (squish hands together)
Mash bananas, mash mash banans
Eat bananas, eat eat bananas (eating motion)
Eat bananas, eat eat bananas
Gooooo bananas!! (raise arms in the air)

Source: Jbrary

Going on a Picnic
I recently bought this toddler safe food basket from Lakeshore Learning and used the food from it. I gave each child 1 piece and they put it into our picnic basket when I mentioned their item.

Going on a picnic, gonna pack a lunch
Going on a picnic, I wonder what we’ll munch??

Popsicle (Folder Story)
To make a folder story all you have to do is print out the image and put it on a file folder. Then you cut out the hole for the tongue. Next you find paper in the corresponding colors and put them in order in the folder. As you tell the story you pull out the paper and let the next one show through.

In the Summer when it’s really hot,
I want something that will hit the spot
Well it’s not a pickle & I’m not very fickle
All I want is an ice cold popsicle!

I’m eating a strawberry popsicle,
I’m eating a strawberrry popsicle
Slurp, slurp, slurp
Yum, yum, yum

Now stick out your tongue
Egh, egh, egh
What color is your tongue when you’re done?

(repeat with: grape, lime, orange, lemon, blueberry, rainbow)

Source: Storytiming

Craft: Puffy Paint Popsicle
For this craft I walked parents and children through making their own puffy paint. We mixed glue and shaving cream together, then added a few colors of food coloring. Next children put the puffy paint all over their cardstock popsicle and we put sprinkles on them. The parents loved learning how to make puffy paint and many said they plan on doing it at home.

 

And of course we ended this story time by having some popsicles!

Storytime: Monsters

Books

“Tickle Monster” by Edouard Manceau
“If You’re a Monster  and You Know It” by Rebecca & Ed Emberley

Ten Little Monsters
1 little, 2 little, 3 little mosnters
4 little, 5 little, 6 little monsters
7 little, 8 little, 9 little monsters
10 little monsters roaring at me

“Go Away, Big Green Monster” by Ed Emberley Puppet

This is such a fun puppet, I planned a monster storytime just so I could use it. This puppet was purchased at Lakeshore Learning.

If I Were a Monster
If I were a happy monster, I’d go ha ha ha
If I were a sad monster, I’d go boo hoo hoo
If I were a mad monster, I’d go stomp stomp stomp
If I were a scared monster, I’d go ahh ahh ahh
But I’m just me, you see, so I’ll just read read read

Monster, Monster
Monster, monster turn around
Monster, monster touch the ground
Monster, monster reach up high
Monster, monster squint your eyes
Monster, monster show your teeth
Monster, monster stomp your feet
Monster, monster slap your knees
Monster, monster sit down please

Monster Brown Bag Puppet

Today we painted with LEGO® DUPLO® bricks! It was really neat to see the patterns the bricks can make by using the different sides. While this was a lot of fun it was messier than I anticipated. I had one toddler end up getting paint all over his dad’s shorts! I wish I gave them a notice last week that we would be painting this week. Also, make sure to instruct children and adults to put glue on the monster parts and not on the bag. No one wants painted glue sticks! The monster parts are from Somewhat Simple.

Story time: Ocean Animals

“Rub-a-Dub Sub” by Linda Ashman
“The Pout-Pout Fish” by Deborah Diesen
“I’m the Biggest Thing in the Ocean” by Kevin Sherry

Five Little Fishies
Five little fishies swimming in the sea (swimming motion)
Teasing Mr. Shark, “No you can’t catch me, no you can’t catch me” (wave finger side to side)
Along comes Mr. Shark as quiet as can be… (whisper, move hands together slowly)
And snaps that fishie right out of the sea (clap hands)

(count down)
I had one child beg me to not let the last fish be eaten so we ended it with “but the fishie was too fast for Mr. Shark and got away.”

Baby Shark
Baby shark doot-doo, doot-doo-doo (tap thumb and pointer finger together)
Baby shark doot-doo, doot-doo-doo
Baby shark doot-doo, doot-doo-doo
Baby shark

(repeat with…)
Mommy shark… (open and close hand)
Daddy shark… (open and close hands widely)
Grandpa shark.. (open and close hands with closed fist)
Going swimming… (pretend to swim)
See a shark… (make looking motion)
Swimming fast… (pretend to swim quickly)
Safe at last… (wipe forehead)
Bye-bye shark… (wave goodbye)

The Waves in the Ocean
The waves in the ocean go up and down, up and down, up and down (raise and lower arms)
The waves in the ocean go up and down all day long

(repeat with…)
The crabs in the ocean go pinch, pinch, pinch (open and close hands)
The sharks in the ocean go snap, snap, snap (open and close hand widely)
The fish in the ocean go swim, swim, swim (make swiming motion)

I’m the Biggest Thing in the Ocean by Kevin Sherry Flannel Board
I love this book and thought it would translate well into a felt board and it definitely did! I wish I had enough time to actually make it out of felt but all I did was print off clip art images, laminate them and then put velcro on the back. Kids loved it!

Craft
For this craft all I did was cut out cardstock ocean animals. Kids then put glue all over their animal and put down tissue paper. For the final touch we added some eyes!

Book Review: Zero Repeat Forever by G.S. Prendergast

Zero Repeat Forever by G.S. Prendergast

Summary: “He has no voice, or name, only a rank, Eighth. He doesn’t know the details of the mission, only the directives that hum in his mind.

Dart the humans. Leave them where they fall.

His job is to protect his Offside. Let her do the shooting.

Until a human kills her…

Sixteen year-old Raven is at summer camp when the terrifying armored Nahx invade, annihilating entire cities, taking control of the Earth. Isolated in the wilderness, Raven and her friends have only a fragment of instruction from the human resistance.

Shelter in place.

Which seems like good advice at first. Stay put. Await rescue. Raven doesn’t like feeling helpless but what choice does she have?

Then a Nahx kills her boyfriend.

Thrown together in a violent, unfamiliar world, Eighth and Raven should feel only hate and fear. But when Raven is injured, and Eighth deserts his unit, their survival comes to depend on trusting each other…”

Review: This book is very similar to “The Fifth Wave” in the fact that a strange “other” race has come to take over Earth but I felt that it fell flat.  I’ll start off by saying that it took me a while to read this book. I picked it up, put it down and read a few other books in between but last night I was determined to finish it! The reason why it took me so long is because I found it to be slow. There is a lot of time in the book where not much is happening, they are just waiting around trying to figure out what to do. Another issue I had was that there are a lot of unanswered questions that I’m guessing/hoping will be answered in the next book in the series. The most interesting character in my opinion is the Nahx. I’m intrigued by what exactly they are, why they travel in male and female pairs and their ranking system. That is really what I wanted to know more about. I found the human characters to be frustrating and lacking. At times Raven comes off as this badass chick and then other time she seems like a damsel in distress. There is also the weird relationship between Raven, her not so great ex-boyfriend who is idealized and his twin brother that I just couldn’t wrap my head around. The book was decent but I fear that a lot of people won’t be able to get by the slow pace of it. Even though I am curious to find out more about the Nahx I will not be reading the second book in the series.

* I received an advance copy with at Book Expo America

Storytime: Boats

Books:
“Who Sank the Boat? by Pamela Allen
“Busy boats” by Tony Mitton

Splashin Up and Down
Splashin up and down in my little red rowboat (lapbounce or pretend to row)
Splashin up and down in my little red rowboat
Splashin up and down in my little red rowboat
Won’t you be my darling

(repeat with)
Lookin out to sea in my little red rowboat (shield eyes)
Waving to a whale in my little red rowboat (wave)
Don’t stand up or you might tip over (lean to the side)

Motorboat
Motorboat, motorboat, go so sloooow (roll hands slowly)
Motorboat, motorboat, go so sloooow
Motorboat, motorboat, step on the gas (tap foot)

Motorboat, motorboat go so fast (roll hands quickly)
Motorboat, motorboat, go so fast
Motorboat, motorboat, CRASH (clap)

Row, Row, Row Your Boat
Row, row row your boat gently down the stream
Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily life is but a dream

Row, row, row your boat gently to the river
If you see a polar bear, don’t forget to shiver

Row, row, row your boat gently down the stream
If you see a crocodile don’t forget to scream

Row, row, row your boat gently to the shore
If you see a lion, don’t forget to roar!

Five Sailboats
Tune: Five Little Ducks

5 sailboats went out one day (hold up 5 fingers)
Over the waves and far away (move hand up and down)
With the wind they begin to rock (lean side to side)
And 1 little sailboat returns to dock

(count down)

Sailboats in the Water
Tune: Do You Know the Muffin Man

To make the sailboats I used a cut out machine we have and used different colors. The kids love this type of activity and get really excited when it is their turn.

If you have a (color) sailboat, a (color) sailboat, a (color) sailboat
If you have a (color) sailboat, put it in the water!

Craft
For the craft I cut paper plates in half and used a razor to make a slit near the top. Next I cut out boats. Children colored the boats and glued them to the popsicle stick. Then they colored the plate and some drew fish in their water. They can put the popsicle stick inside of the plate and move the boat around like it is floating on the water!

 

 

Storytime: Construction

Books

“Goodnight, Goodnight, Construction Site” by Sherri Duskey Rinker
“Construction Kitties” by Judy Sue Goodwin Sturges
“One Big Building” by Michael Dahl

Five Little Nails
(you can just say this rhyme or sing it to the tune of “This Old Man”)

Five little nails, standing straight and steady (hold up 5 fingers)
Here I come with my hammer ready (make fist with other hand)
With a bam, bam, bam (tap fist to a finger)
That nail goes down (lower finger)
Now there’s just four little nails to pound

(count down)

Johnny Works with One Hammer
Johnny works with one hammer, one hammer, one hammer (tap fist on thigh or floor)
Johnny works with one hammer
Now he works with two (hold up both fists)
Johnny works with two hammers, two hammers, two hammers (tap both fists)
Johnny works with two hammers
Now he works with three (hold up both fists and kick out leg)
Johnny works with three hammers, three hammers, three hammers (tap fists and foot)
Johnny works with three hammers
Now he works with four (hold up both fists and kick out both legs)
Johnny works with four hammers, four hammers, four hammers (tap fists and feet)
Johnny works with four hammers
Now he works with five (hold up both fists, kick out both legs and nod head)
Johnny works with five hammers, five hammers, five hammers (tap fists, feet and nod head)
Johnny works with five hammers
And now he takes a rest!

Old MacDonald Has Some tools

Old MacDonald has some tools, e-i-e-i-o
And with those tools he has a hammer, e-i-e-i-o
With a bang, bang here and a bang, bang there
Here a bang, there a bang, everywhere a bang, bang
Old MacDonald has some tools, e-i-e-i-o

(repeat with)
Saw – see saw
Wrench – turn turn
Screwdriver – twist twist
Pliers – pinch pinch
Drill – zzz zzz

Craft

For this craft children colored pre-cut out construction vehicles and glued them to a piece of construction paper. Next they put glue where they wanted their dirt/sand to go. Then we put their paper into a tin, poured a cup of dirt/sand over it and shook out the extra. Some of the children went back and forth adding glue and more dirt/sand because they enjoyed it so much!

How It Went:

I have done a construction theme in the past and wasn’t the biggest fan of it. This time the storytime was a hit! Their favorite song was definitely “Johnny Works with One Hammer,” even the parents got into it and the favorite book was “Construction Kitties.” I thought the families would enjoy the Old MacDonald song but that didn’t go over well (maybe because it was the last song I sang and they were starting to get antsy), I ended up cutting the song short. This was also the favorite craft we have done so far, it’s very simple to set up and the kids loved! I even had parents tell me that they plan on recreating it at home.