Wednesday, March 30, 2016

Zoo

For my last storytime of the Winter 2016 session, I chose to do the theme of Zoo. 


Books:

Toddler Books:
Peek-a-Zoo! - Marie Torres Cimarusti
Who Hops? - Katie Davis
Monkey and Me - Emily Gravett

Preschool Books:
Who Ate All the Cookie Dough? - Karen Beaumont
Who Hops? - Katie Davis
Never Play Music Right Next to the Zoo - John Lithgow
A Sick Day for Amos McGee - Philip Stead

Rhymes/Fingerplays/Songs:

Five Monkeys in the Tree (using finger puppets and a puppet crocodile):
Five little monkeys swinging in the tree,
Teasing Mr. Crocodile, "You can't catch me."
Along comes Mr. Crocodile, as quiet as can be, "SNAP!"
But that monkey got away to another tree.
Count down...4, 3, 2, 1
Source: Traditional

We Went to the Zoo One Day (Tune: "Mary Had a Little Lamb"):
We went to the zoo one day, zoo one day, zoo one day,
We went to the zoo one day and this is what we saw:  a lion 
Repeat with various zoo puppets

Elephants in the Bathtub:
One elephant in the bathtub, going for a swim.
Knock, knock (clap, clap)
Splash, splash (slap knees)
Come on in!
Count up...2, 3, 4, 5
Five elephants in the bathtub, going for a swim.
Knock, knock (clap, clap)
Splash, splash (slap knees)
THEY ALL FELL IN!!!
Source: Jbrary 

Baby Animals

Last week, our theme for storytimes was Baby Animals! 


Books:

Toddler Books:
Whose Baby Am I? - John Butler
Tiptoe Joe - Ginger Foglesong Gibson
A Book of Babies - Il Sung Na

Preschool Books:
Tiptoe Joe - Ginger Foglesong Gibson
A Book of Babies - Il Sung Na
Roly-Poly Egg - Kali Stileman

Rhymes/Fingerplays/Songs:

Where is Baby? (Tune: "Where Is Thumbkin?"):
Where is piglet? Where is piglet?
Here I am! Here I am!
How are you today, piglet?
Very well, thank you.
Oink, oink, oink. Oink, oink, oink.
Repeat with:
Where is puppy? (woof, woof, woof)
Where is kitten? (meow, meow, meow)

Little Chick Hiding Game:
Little chick, little chick, come out to play,
What colored barn are you hiding behind today?
Source: My LA created the barns and the little chick and we came up with the rhyme together

Ten Eggs:
Flannel story found here: Jen in the Library 
However, you can tailor it to whatever flannels/puppets you have on hand and shorten it to fewer eggs.

Tuesday, March 29, 2016

Yoga - For School-Ager's

Last week was a little different. I took half the week off for vacation but, before I left, I presented a program for our school-aged members. Just as a refresher, I am currently assigned to plan/present storytimes for 0-to-5-year-olds. However, my counterpart (in my particular branch) and I trade roles one week a session to keep things fresh and to take a break from our age groups. It's always exciting to do something new. 

For my program, we learned about YOGA!

1. Discussion:

We defined "Yoga", since most of the kids had never done yoga before and, if they had heard of it, only had a vague idea of what yoga is. I told them that "asana" was when you hold your body in a particular position for period of time and that we would be doing a variety of "asana" positions throughout the program.

Then we did a breathing exercise and "Ohm"-ed together. 

2. Reading:

We read the book "You Are a Lion!: And Other Fun Yoga Poses" by Taeeun Yoo


In my powerpoint presentation, I had pictures of kids doing the poses. I put out carpets in the room so everyone had room to get down on the floor. We got in each "asana" and I had the kids guess what animal we were, or what the name of the pose was. 

I read the book at the same time. Since scanning some of the pictures worked so well when I did the Zentangling program, I did something similar to reveal what animal/pose we were doing. 

After each pose was revealed to be a different animal, I asked the kids if the pose looked like the animal. If not, what should the pose look like? Everyone was laughing and having a blast, even my teen volunteers.

3. Activity:

I searched for more animal poses on the internet to continue the theme of animal "asana" poses. They had the guess the animal again after we got into the position. Then, I put the animal side-by-side with the pose and we continued in the same vein as the book with the kids telling me what the pose should look like instead.

4. Craft:

Since many yogi's have aromatherapy bags that they place over their eyes during Shavasana, I thought we would make the eye masks. I found a craft online that used socks. So we purchased packs of fun-colored socks. I had some aromatherapy scents at home so I chose the one that smelled like lavender and chamomile.  I put a couple drops of the aromatherapy scent in a bowl of rice, mixed it up, and then we had the teens help the school-agers put rice in their socks. The teens helped them tie the ends and then they were able to decorate their eye pillows with ribbons or markers if they wanted to.



Thursday, March 17, 2016

Reptiles

Frogs, crocodiles, and snakes, oh my! This week our theme is Reptiles!




Books:

Toddler Books:
The Watermelon Seed - Greg Pizzoli
Hoptoad - Jane Yolen

Preschool Books:
Open Very Carefully: A Book With Bite - Nick Bromley
The Crocodile Who Didn't Like Water - Gemma Merino
The Watermelon Seed - Greg Pizzoli

Rhymes/Fingerplays/Songs:

The Crocodile's Jaws (Tune: "The Wheels on the Bus"):
The crocodile's jaws go chomp, chomp, chomp,
Chomp, chomp, chomp. Chomp, chomp, chomp.
The crocodile's jaws go chomp, chomp, chomp,
All through the pond.
Repeat with:
The big green frog went hop, hop, hop
The little brown snake went slither, slither, slither
Source: Traditional (with a twist)
*I used whatever reptilian puppets I had on hand for this particular song.

Rhymes With Snake Hiding Game:

Little snake, little snake, are you behind the  birthday cake ?
Repeat with: milkshake, snowflake, pancake, garden rake, cupcake
Source: This is an iteration of the Little Mouse game, but slightly different. 

Five Green and Speckled Frogs:
Five green and speckled frogs sat on a speckled log,
Eating some most delicious bugs, YUM, YUM.
One jumped into the pool, where it was nice and cool,
Then there were four green speckled frogs, GULP GULP.
Count down to no green speckled frogs...
Source: Traditional Flannel (however the tune of the song was definitely learned from Raffi)

Wednesday, March 9, 2016

Garden

This week our theme is gardening! Clearly it's a favorite theme of mine but I can't help it when the weather is starting to warm up!


Books:

Toddler Books:
Up, Down, and Around - Katherine Ayres
What Does Bunny See?: A Book of Colors and Flowers - Linda Sue Park

Preschool Books:
Up, Down, and Around - Katherine Ayres
Up in the Garden and Down in the Dirt - Kate Messner 
What Does Bunny See? - Linda Sue Park
Creepy Carrots! - Aaron Reynolds

Rhymes/Fingerplays/Songs:

Out in the Garden:
Out in the garden, growing in the sun,
Were 5 pretty flowers, and I picked one!
Count down 4, 3, 2, 1...
Source: Mel's Desk

Mr. Rabbit:
Oh, Mr. Rabbit, you've got a mighty habit, 
Of running through my garden and eating all my _____.
Source: My flannel drawer

There's Something in My Garden:
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...RIBBIT, RIBBIT, RIBBIT,
A frog is what I found! RIBBIT, RIBBIT, RIBBIT.
Repeat with...
SQUEAK (mouse)
THUMP (rabbit)
BUZZ (bee)
Source: Sur La Lune
I used puppets and pulled them out of a puppet box, so I used the animals and other garden creatures I already had on-hand.

Wednesday, March 2, 2016

Birds

Now that Spring is in the air, this week we learned about Birds! 


Books:

Toddler Books:
Peck, Peck, Peck - Lucy Cousins
Whose Chick Are You? - Nancy Tafuri
Early Bird - Toni Yuly

Preschool Books:
Peck, Peck, Peck - Lucy Cousins
Sylvie - Jennifer Sattler
Feathers: Not Just for Flying - Melissa Stewart
Mama Built a Little Nest - Jennifer Ward
Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus - Mo Willems
Early Bird - Toni Yuly

Rhymes/Fingerplays/Songs:

The Birds on the Bus (Tune: "The Wheels on the Bus"):
The owls on the bus say "Hoot, Hoot, Hoot,"
"Hoot, Hoot, Hoot," "Hoot, Hoot, Hoot."
The owls on the bus say "Hoot, Hoot, Hoot,"
All through the town.

Repeat with: 
The chickens on the bus say "Cluck, Cluck, Cluck"
The ducks on the bus say "Quack, Quack, Quack"

Duck Behind the Truck Hiding Game:
Little duck, little duck, are you behind the  red  truck?
Repeat with other colors...
Source: One of my Library Assistants made this flannel but it's a play off of the Little Mouse game.

Chickens in the Barnyard Flannel:
Down at the barnyard on a big straw bed,
Stood a little hen that was colored red.

Down at the barnyard, eating a snack,
Stood a little hen that was colored black.

Down at the barnyard by the old well,
Stood a little hen that was colored yellow.

Down at the barnyard near the wagon headed to town,
Stood a little hen that was colored brown.

Down at the barnyard, near the farmer's shoes,
Stood a little hen that was colored blue.

Down at the barnyard, pecking at some beans,
Stood a little hen that was colored green.
Source: Half was by me, half was a Library Assistant of mine.