Mother’s Day Saturday Story Time
Saturday Storytime
attendance: 32 It was a very young story time — I would say the average ages for 2-1/2 years old. Kinda young …. and it turns out the group participation ascpect of my plans sort of sunk to the ground….
Miss Mouse was wearing her cardigan sweater and boa. We talked about Mother’s Day
Miss Mouse: was hiding behind the blue flower
fingerplay: hickory dickory dock
Book 1: Over in the Meadow by Paul Galdone. I’ve never done this book in story time and I think I picked the wrong Saturday to do it. This group was too young and they just didn’t feel the rhymes and pattern. I love the pictures!
Song: I’m a Little Teapot by Wiggleworms
Book: Knock Knock, Who’s There? by Tad Hills I like this book so much. It’s funny yelling Knock knock….
Flannel Story: Monkey Face by Frank Asch. I know you aren’t surprised to hear that I did monkey face. It’s truly one of my favorite stories to tell. and…It was wonderful to see families who didn’t know the story experience it today.
Song 2: Put Your Finger on by Parachute Express
… I had waffles for breakfast which inspired:
Flannel #2:Flip Flap Jack Wouldn’t that make a great breakfast for mom tomorrow?
Book 3: If You’re Happy and You Know it by David Carter I really wish Scholastic would reprint this…
Titles I didn’t use but intended to (Sometimes 30 minutes isn’t enough):
- Book: Owl Babies by Martin Waddell
- Song: Mama Don’t Allow by Wiggleworms
- Flannel: M-O-M-M-Y the group was too young to sing a song of letters…
Moos, Baas, and La-la-las: Saturday Storytime
Saturday Storytime
attendance: 33
Miss Mouse was wearing missing. Went to visit her friend groundhog. Sent a postcard
Miss Mouse: was hiding behind farm animals. She was hiding behind the goat
fingerplay: Clap. Clap your lap.
Prop Song: Interrupted Groundhog in which I didn’t have the bear or the second page of the script. I was winging it.
Song:Knuckles Knees
Fingerplay:Roll Roll Sugar Babies. We clucked our way through it like ducklings.
(a new storytime feature) iPad app: Moo Baa La La La I’ve been wanting to do this in story time for a very long time…. we finally bought an AppleTv. It was a lot of fun. I’ve been doing story time long enough to remember we used to do filmstrips (though I never did)… this was an interactive version of a long held story time tradition
fingerplay: A-Ram Sam Sam A girl — maybe 8 0r 9 — came in today and told me she used to come to story time and do A-Ram Sam Sam and that she taught it to her younger sister. I thanked her for reminding me. It’s like riding a bike, once you A-Ram Sam Sam you don’t forget.
Book: Where is the Green Sheep? by Mem Fox
Song Medley: I’m a Little Teapot/Two Little Blackbirds/Humpty Dumpty by the Wiggleworms
Book: If You’re Happy and You Know It.
Titles I didn’t use but intended to:
- Book: The Little Red Hen
Mommy! Saturday Story Time
Saturday Storytime for May 11, 2012
attendance: 34
Miss Mouse was wearing a yellow dress with flowers.She was making cupcakes for Mother’s Day
Miss Mouse: was hiding behind – too much to do this week.
fingerplay: Clap Clap your Lap
Song 1: I’m a Little Tea Pot with 2 Little Blackbirds and since that wasn’t the song I wanted to start with I added Humpty Dumpty from the same CD
Book 1: Mommies say Shh by Patricia Polacco
Fingerplay: Roll Roll Sugar Babies
Book: Just Like Mommy by Harriet Ziefert. Nice and simple like most Ziefert books… it was the right book for this audience (on the younger side)
Song 3: Two For Tea by Jim Gill. I’d wanted to pair this with I’m a Little Teapot… oops. I heard his new CD for the first time yesterday and really wanted to try some songs today.
Flannelboard story: Monkey Face by Frank Asch
Song 4: Beethoven’s Five Finger Play – another new one. I love the beginning but it lasts a little long for me
Book: Stop Kissing Me by Ethan Long. There is a little button that simulates a kissing sound. It’s funny.
Song 5!!: M-O-M-M-Y. Kay from Storytime ABC’s included this on her Flannel Friday post yesterday. I loved it and came in early to make up cards for it. It was fun.
Song 6: It Takes Some Friends — another new Jim Gill song. It takes some clapping friends to make a clapping song… stomping friends, singing friends to make a happy song.
Book 7: If You’re Happy and You Know It by David Carter
Titles I didn’t use but intended to:
- Book: Clothesline by Alborough
- Book: Is Your Mama a Llama? by Kellogg
Too Much Noise! Saturday Story Time
On Saturdays when there is no week day story time, we have to come up with our own. Sometimes that is good and sometimes not. I often need one thing to be inspired and then I can come up with a pretty good plan. This week, I didn’t know what to do.
I looked to the Wiggleworms Love You CD for inspiration. Pure Gold. I’ve been wanting to work in traditional songs into my story times for a while… songs we don’t sing anymore. Today was a good start.
Saturday Storytime
attendance: 64
Miss Mouse: wasn’t hiding behind anything this week. Too much to do!
Miss Mouse was wearing her black and red ruffle dress. She had her cow bell out and sang us a song… (not really, the bell just made lots of noise)
fingerplay: Clap, Clap Your Lap
WiggleWorm Song 1: I’m a Little Teapot with Two Little Blackbirds
Book 1: I Aint Gonna Paint No More by Karen Beaumont Such fun and great for singing along
WiggleWorm Song 2: Humpty Dumpty It’s fun to blblblblblblb fall off the wall. Then we sing it again…
fingerplay: Roll Roll Sugar Babies
WiggleWorm Prop Song: Cat Goes Fiddle I Fie. Used: cat, dog, snake, rooster (oops, should have been a chicken), and an elephant.
Book 2: Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes by Eric Litwin
Song 2: Drivin in My Car by Ralph Covert. Everyone loves this one… even the dads.
Prop Story with instruments and Puppets: Too Much Noise by Ann McGovern I pass out instruments: tambourines is the bed creaking, jingle bells play when the tea kettle whistles, and shaky eggs shake for the leaves falling on the roof. Really, it is a cacophony of noise and then I add the puppets. We moo and hee-haw and baa, but by the end of the story, the instruments do their job. One of my favorite.
Book 3: If You’re Happy and You Know it by David Carter
Titles I didn’t use but intended to:
- Flannel: Boom Boom Aint it Great To Be Crazy
- WiggleWorm Song 3: B-I-N-G-O. I had the poster cards up and ready and I just didn’t remember to do them!
Kangaroos Saturday Storytime 2.18.2012
Saturday Storytime
attendance: 54 there were all sorts of ages from babies to toddlers with lots of preschoolers. There were far more dads than moms today. I’d say about 75% of the parental units were dads. I like that about Saturday story times.
Miss Mouse Hides Inside of Pockets
Miss Mouse was wearing her red and black dress. She showed us the large ♥ box of chocolates. Empty.
Miss Mouse: was hiding behind in pockets. This was cute! I’d never used them before and all the elements inside the pockets (save Miss Mouse) were items that start with the letter P: pickles, pjs, popcorn, etc. Who puts a pickle in a pocket? Pickle, pigs, pjs and popcorn all start with P!! Oh, and pizza too!
fingerplay: Clap. Clap your lap.
Book 1: Pouch by David Ezra Stein. I like this story. I had to fill in a few words to make it work as a read-aloud, but a great book. We hopped along in our seat every time Pouch hopped.
Fingerplay: Roll, Roll, Sugar Babies
Prop Story: Joey by Jack Kent. This is a lap story that a friend made for me years ago. Joey’s mom’s pouch expands as his friends show up. It’s great.
Song: Jack Be Nimble. Jumping seemed the only thing to do for this story time. (I still don’t have a source for this song…)
Prop Story 2: McGillycuddy Could by Pamela Duncan Edwards McGillycuddy visits the farm and learns his talents for running, jumping, hopping, and boxing aren’t as grand as laying eggs, growing wool, making milk… or is it? I have all the puppets for this, so I turned it into a prop story. (Isn’t it funny how I turn every story time into a farm animal extravaganza?)
Fingerplay: Hickory Dickory Dock
Flannel Story: Katy No Pocket by Emmy Payne
Fingerplay: Fee Fie Fo Fum
Book: Boing by Nick Bruel. This one doesn’t have a lot of words so I did some explaining. Cute. If my audience were filled with lots of young kids it wouldn’t have worked…
Finger story: Miss Cat and Mr. Dog
Book: If you’re Happy and You know it by David Carter.
This was such a fun story time. It was different and filled with things we hadn’t done in a long time!
Cats and Dogs Storytime
Saturday Storytime
attendance: 52 a young group
Miss Mouse was wearing her yellow dress, hoodie, and pink boa
Miss Mouse: was hiding behind Nothing. She was not very happy with me and with the Cat storytime. In fact, she was so unhappy, I had to cover her ears whenever I said the word Cat. I apologized, she forgave me and everyone gave her a kiss good-bye.
fingerplay: Hickory Dickory Dock
Book 1: Come Back Kittens by Ormerod
Fingerplay: Roll Roll sugar babies. We meowed like kittens, fluttered like butterflies and went supersonic speed!
Song:Silly Dance Contest / Jim Gill Lots of wiggles today and it seemed like they needed to get moving
Book 2: The Cat Barked by Lydia Monks
Mother Goose Flannel: Three Little Kittens who lost their mittens!
Prop song: How much is that doggie in the window? (in which I pile up all my dog puppets on the wall and everyone sings along… arf arf)
Fingerplay: Clap Clap your Lap
Book: Who Says Woof? by John Butler
Song 2:Drivin in My Car by Ralph Covert. Everyone loves this one… even the dads.
Book: Bark George by Jules Feiffer . Normally I do the prop story for this title, but decided on the book.
Book: If you’re Happy and You know it by David Carter.
Titles I didn’t use but intended to:
- Flannel: Scat the Cat (sassy and fat). This group was too young.
Sheep Storytime 1.6.2012
Miss Mouse looking spiffy as a Lamb
Saturday Storytime
attendance: 30
Miss Mouse was wearing her lamb outfit
Miss Mouse: was hiding behind snowflakes. Purely wishful thinking on her part.
Flannel Nursery Rhyme #1: Mary Had a Little Lamb
Flannel Board: Mary Had a Lot of Lambs
Book 1: Where is the Green Sheep? by Mem Fox. Afterwards, my Green Sheep came out and said hello. This is possibly my favorite book. It’s great for rhyming and the repetition is just wonderful for audience participation.
Fingerplay: Clap, Clap Your Lap.
Song: Jack Be Nimble
Book 2: Sheep in a Jeep by Nancy Shaw
fingerplay:Roll, roll sugar babies. We baa’d like sheeps, used our feet, and went super-sonic fast.
Flannel Nursery Rhyme #2: Baa Baa Black Sheep
Book 3: The Napping House by Audrey Wood
Song 2: Drivin in My Car by Ralph Covert. Everyone loves this one… even the dads.
Flannel Nursery Rhyme #3:Little Bo Peep
Book:If You’re Happy and You know it by David Carter.
Fall Saturday Storytime
Saturday Open Storytime
On Saturdays when we’re in story time session, we use the materials used in story time from that week. Since I’d done a story time with these materials, I wanted to mix things up a bit as well. Many of these books will look just like last Monday’s material. It’s cause they are!
attendance: 40: half adults, half kids. The kiddos were all over the place in age from 7 to 18 months or so
Miss Mouse: was hiding behind fall leaves… and was baking pumpkin pies.
fingerplay: Clap, Clap Your Lap.
Book 1: Mouse’s First Fall by Lauren Thompson. I love Mouse. She’s so sweet. Also, it was fun trying to find Mouse’s sister when she hid in the leaves.
Fingerplay:Roll Roll Sugar Babies
Flannel: Mouse and the Apple. I love pausing to wait to see if the apple falls. I’ll ask the group, “did it fall yet?” By the end we’re all sitting around, whistling and waiting.
Song: Jack Be Nimble. Jack be nimble, Jack be quick, three times jump the candle stick. One. Two. Three. This is a great little tune that someone found and now we can’t find the original.
Book 2:All for Pie, Pie for All by David Martin. Mrs. Cat makes a pie, everyone eats it… there’s a slice leftover. All the mice get a slice of that slice… leave a crumb. All the ants eat the crumb. Fun, cooperative, pie. Delish.
Song 2:Drivin in My Car by Ralph Covert. Everyone looked tired this morning, and it seemed mean to make them stand up.
Story Cards: Fall is Not Easy by Marty Kelly.
Fingerplay: Hickory Dickory Dock
Book 4: If You’re Happy and You know it by David Carter.
Titles I didn’t use but intended to: (so many this time around)
- Book:Looking for Moose by Phyllis Root(I even had my moose puppet out)
- Flannel: Mrs. McMurphy’s Pumpkin. I just found this flannel yesterday and really wanted to use it, but the age of the participating children was pretty young (actually all over the place, but pretty young) and thought it might be too scary.
Barnyard Dance
Saturday Storytime
attendance: 47
Miss Mouse was wearing a pretty yellow dress and told a joke:
Knock Knock
who’s there?
Cargo.
Cargo who?
Car go beep beep beep.
fingerplay: Clap. clap your lap.
Book 1:Chickens to the Rescue. by John Himmelman. We practiced saying “Chickens to the rescue”. It was too much for one boy who cried at the noise, so we toned it down.It’s such a funny book.
Prop Story:Too Much Noise by Ann McGovern. An oldie but a goodie. I like audience participation, so I’ve worked the story to include instruments:
- The bed creaked? tambourines
- The floor squeaked? clappers
- The leaves falling on the roof? rattles
- Tea kettle whislting? jingle bells
After the instruments have been passed out, we practice a bit. Usually it’s a cacophony of sound, which is okay, the point is these things are noisy. I tell the story, using puppets as the animals the wise man counsels Peter into getting. I love this story.
Song:Drivin’ in my Car by Ralph’s World
Book 2: Big Yellow Sunflower by Frances Barry. I like throwing in a book that has nothing to do with the week’s theme… it mixes it up. Have you seen this title? When the pages unfurl, the mystery of that little seed is revealed.
Story Card and Song:: Barnyard Dance by Sandra Boynton. We photocopied the book to make it large enough for crowds to see. It’s one of my favorite Boynton books; I love the cadence. We somehow have the music to this as well. And we tried it out. Too hard to do in preschool storytime. I’d almost like to do it with grade school kids.
Book 3: Pigs to the Rescue by John Himmelman. So Chickens to the Rescue ends with the pigs running in to help the Greenstalk family. We had time, so I read this one… but those piggies are not nearly as helpful as the chickens. I like the chicken book better and will not be doing both books in one storytime. It’s too much.
Fingerplay 2: Roll roll sugar babies.
Book 4: If You’re Happy and You know it by David Carter.
