Catch the Possibilities

Books:


Letter Tree/Letter of the Day: P

Fingerplay/Movement: Five Little Puppies
Five little puppies were playing in the sun. (hold up hands, fingers extended)
This one saw a rabbit, and he began to run. (Bend down first finger)
This one saw a butterfly, and he began to race. (bend down second finger)
This one saw a cat, and he began to chase. (bend down third finger)
This one tried to catch his tail, and he went round and round. (bend down fourth finger)
The one was so quiet, he never made a sound. (bend down thumb)

Fingerplay/Movement: Ten Little Doggies
Ten little doggies went out one day (hold 10 fingers up)
To dig in the dirt and play, play, play. (pretend to dig like a dog with both hands)
Fiver were spotted, and five were not, (hold up one hand at a time)
And at dinner time they ate a lot! (pretend to eat)

Flannelboard Guessing Game: Where Has My Little Dog Gone?
Hide the dog under one of the pieces (washing machine, dog house, bed, rug). Sing the song and look for the dog.

Oh where, oh where has my little dog gone,
Oh where, oh where can he be?
With his ears cut short and his tail cut long,
Oh where, oh where can he be?

Songs:
Glad to See You by Peter and Ellen Allard (from Sing It! Say It! Stamp It! Sway It!)
Blue Dog by Johnny Bregar (from Hootennany)-- with shakers!
Goodbye, Goodbye by Joanie Leeds (from I'm a Rock Star)

Craft: My Weiner Dog

Materials:

• Construction paper circles
• Pattern for dog front and back (and ear if you like)
• Glue

Books:


Letter Tree/Letter of the Day: F

Fingerplay/Movement: The Farm
One is a cat that says meow!
Two is a dog that says bow-wow!
Three is a crow that says caw-caw!
Four is a donkey that says hee-haw!
Five is a lamb that says baa-baa!
Six is a sheep that says maa-maa!
Seven is a chick that says cheep-cheep!
Eight is a hen that says cluck-cluck!
Nine is a cow that says moo-moo!
Ten is a rooster crowing cock-a-doodle-doo!

Flannelboard: Open Up the Barn Door
Open up the barn door, the spring goes "boink!"
There's a pig in the barn, saying, "Oink, oink, oink."

Open up the barn door before the clock strikes two.
There's a cow in the barn, saying, "Moo, moo, moo."

Open up the barn door, it's a sunny day.
There's a horse in the barn, saying, "Neigh, neigh, neigh."

Open up the barn door, singing, "Tra-la-la."
There's a sheep in the barn, saying, "Baa, baa, baa."

Open up the barn door, while the sky is blue.
There's a rooster in the barn, saying, "Cock-a-doodle-doo!"

Open up the barn door and don't get off the track.
There's a duck in the barn, saying, "Quack, quack, quack."

Puppets: "Where Do I Live" guessing game
I had some farm animal puppets and some non-farm animal puppets. I pulled them out of a bag one at a time and asked "Do I live on a farm or not on a farm?"

Songs:
Glad to See You by Peter and Ellen Allard (from Sing It! Say It! Stamp It! Sway It!)
Old MacDonald by Mr. Eric and Mr. Michael (from Bouncy Blue from The Learning Groove)
Down on Grandpa's Farm by Dennis Buck (from Five Little Monkeys)
Goodbye, Goodbye by Joanie Leeds (from I'm a Rock Star)

Craft: Folded Barn



Materials:

• Construction paper
• Scissors
• Stickers (optional)

One of the fun things I've done with my outreach at a local preschool is how we incorporate their deposit collection into one of my visits to their site each month. The first year of our partnership, I was able to come every week, and brought new books every other week. This year, I've had to cut back to twice a month (because I've added an additional childcare center to my calendar), so I only bring books once a month. Rather than just being an exchange of items between myself and the teachers, we involve the kids in some dramatic play.

At the beginning of the year, I make fake library cards for all the kids. For the front, I used the same colors and logo from our real library cards, but added their school's logo too. On the back is a short statement: I promise to take good care of the books I borrow on this card, with a line under for them to write their name. There's a big window for their school photo, and then a barcode (a scanned copy of one of ours). I print them out on business cards and the school takes care of putting the photos and having them write their names. The school keeps the cards and one of the teachers pass them out to the kids as they browse for books.

When I bring new books, we set them up on the floor, tables, furniture, etc. and the kids "browse" for a book they want to keep at school. As they are looking, I set up a laptop and scanner. The items I bring are all checked out at the library before I bag them up to take to the preschool because we can't get access to our ILS on laptops, but the kids don't know that. Each kid brings up their card and we scan it and then their book. They love getting to hold the scanner and do it themselves. It's a pain to unhook a scanner and haul the laptop in addition to 70 books, so I've thought about looking into seeing if there's an iPad app that would beep when the library barcodes were scanned, but I don't know how to search for that? Any ideas?

At any rate, they love to check out books, and since they can't come down to the library and do it themselves, I also like that the activity introduces them to some basic library experiences-- getting a library card, browsing, selecting, and checking out books. Instead of check out receipts, they get stickers, which is pretty fun too. So many sad faces the day I forgot the stickers at the library.

We do occasionally have to redirect kids when they are arguing over the same book, or remind them not to walk on the books if they fall over on the floor, and that these are books to share, but overall, it has been a very positive activity for all the kids. And the teachers love having a stockpile of books for reading time that is separate from their curriculum.

Does anyone else do this sort of thing with their outreach sites?

I actually didn't get to do this storytime because the preschool I planned it for forgot to let me know they were closed on the day I showed up. Whoops! I was excited about this one too!

Books:


Extensions:
Action Rhyme: “Little Birds”
Little birds, little birds, jump up and down
Little birds, little birds, don’t make a sound
Little birds, little birds, tip-toe to me
Little birds, little birds, bend your knees
Little birds, little birds, peep, peep, peep
Little birds, little birds, sleep, sleep, sleep
Little birds, little birds, fly to the leaves
Little birds, little birds, sit down please.

Two Little Blackbirds
Two little blackbirds
[Wiggle both hands.]
Sitting on a hill
[Wiggle right hand.]
One named Jack
One named Jill.
[Wiggle left hand.]
Fly away Jack
[Hide right hand behind back.]
Fly away Jill
[Hide left hand behind back.]
Come back Jack
[Bring right hand back.]
Come back Jill.
[Bring left hand back.]

There’s a Bird In the Air 
(Tune: Spider on the Floor) [with scarves]
There’s a bird in the air, in the air (pinch scarf in the middle, then flap it in the air like a bird)
There’s a bird in the air, in the air
There’s a bird in the air, now he’s flying in my hair (put “bird” on hair)
There’s a bird in the air, in the air.
There’s a bird on my leg, on my leg (put “bird” on leg)
There’s a bird on my leg, on my leg
There’s a bird on my leg, and he is pretty big
There’s a bird on my leg, on my leg.
There’s a bird on my hand, on my hand (put “bird” on hand)
There’s a bird on my hand, on my hand
There’s a bird on my hand, but now he is my friend
There’s a bird on my hand, on my hand

Songs:
These Are My Glasses by Laurie Berkner from Whaddaya Think About That
Mother Gooney Bird by Mr. Eric and Mr. Michael from The Learning Groove: Rockin' Red
Reach for the Sky by Wee Sing from Wee Sing Children's Songs and Fingerplays

• various items that sink or float
• 2 trays, labeled sink and float
• large container for water 
• water

Materials:

Song: Hey, Hey, How Do You Do

Rhyme/Song: Monster, Monster
Monster, monster, turn around (littles can roll their hands instead of turning around)
Monster, monster, touch the ground.
Monster, monster, reach up high.
Monster, monster, find your nose.
Monster, monster, touch your toes.
Monster, monster, find your knees.
Monster, monster, sit down please.

Book: Tickle Monster by Josie Bissett

Song: We Will Stomp by Mr. Eric and Mr. Michael (from Yummy Yellow from the Learning Groove)
With monster puppets based on these that Lisa made.

Sing: Five Little Monsters Sleeping in My Bed
Five little monsters sleeping in my bed
One crawled out from under my spread.
I called to Mama and Mama said,
"No more monsters sleeping in your bed!"
Repeat with 4,3,2,1.
No little monsters sleeping in my bed,
None crawled out from under my spread.
I called to Mama and Mama said,
"There aren't any monsters, so go to bed!"

Song: Monster Boogie by Laurie Berkner (from The Best of the Laurie Berkner Band)

Song: Monster Mash by KidzBop (from Kidzbop Halloween Hits)-- with shakers

Song: If You're a Monster and You Know It by Adrian Emberley

Song: Skinnamarink

Song: Bye, Bye, We'll Miss You

Closing Rhyme: We read a book / We sang a song / Let's blow a kiss / And say so long. (ASL for underlined words)

Books:



Letter of the Day: A

• Big Green Alligator story from One, Two, What Can I Do?

Fingerplay/Movement: Alligator 
The alligator's jaws go snap, snap, snap (clap 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]

(Turn around) GOTCHYA! (grab/hug someone you know)

Folder Story: Alphagator

Songs:
Glad to See You by Peter and Ellen Allard (from Sing It! Say It! Stamp It! Sway It!)
Alligator Chant by Dr. Jean (from Silly Songs)
Goodbye, Goodbye by Joanie Leeds (from I'm a Rock Star) (we sing and act out the first part and then I fade the music out)

Back in September I held a Parachute Play program for 2-4 year olds. In hindsight, I think ages 3-5 might work better (at least with this playlist) because trying to get lots of 2 year olds to walk in a circle was difficult!

I should also mention that if you are looking for other parachute programs, read Lisa, Anne, and Kendra's posts for more ideas.

At any rate, here's what I did:

1. If You're Happy and You Know it (sung while standing). Verses included: clap your hands, stamp your feet, lift it high, and shake the 'chute.

2. Sally Go 'Round the Sunshine from Carole Stephens' Dancing Feet cd. We walked in a circle slowly and then faster.

3. Five Little Monkeys from Go Fish's Party Like a Preschooler cd. I have 5 Little Monkey finger puppet props that I toss onto the "bed" and the kids shake the chute to make them "jump" on the bed.

4. Alphabet Song from Johnny Bregar's Stomp Yer Feet! cd. We stood, sang along, and shook the 'chute.

5. Ring Around the Rosie from Caspar Babypants' Sing Along! cd. We walked in a circle and then "fell down" like the song says.

6. Now that we were sitting, we pretended to drum on the parachute while listening to Hoki Hoki/Nga Waka from Georgiana Stewart's A World of Parachute Play cd.

7. We stayed sitting for The Wiggles' song Shaky Shaky from Yummy Yummy, alternating from fast to slow.

8. Standing again, we went Moving in a Circle (by Mr. Eric and Mr. Michael on Rockin' Red with the Learning Groove) walking, jumping, and taking baby steps.

9. We sat down to act out Row Row Row Your Boat from Old Town School of Folk Music's Songs for Wiggleworms cd.

10. Next it was popcorn time. As the kids stood up I put some "popcorn" (aka crumpled pieces of white scrap paper) on the chute and the kids popped it up while The Wiggles' Hot Poppin' Popcorn played.

11. The Bubble Squash from Kimbo's Pop Rock Parachute cd was a fun activity to try, but make sure you emphasize the crawling on the floor aspect. One little guy bonked his head dive bombing into the middle. The goal is for the caregivers to make a bubble by raising the 'chute up and pulling the edges down to the ground, and then the kids crawl into the middle "popping" it.

12. Family Train by Mr. Eric and Mr. Michael on Outrageous Orange from the Learning Groove was a fun walking in a circle song.

13. We ended with a fun jump and shake song; Jump Jump by Joanie Leeds on I'm a Rock Star.

Rewind Wednesday- yet another unblogged plan from this spring: Rain!

Books:


Extensions:
Rhyme/Song: Itsy Bitsy Spider (Learning Groove style)
     -->This is my favorite way to do Itsy Bitsy Spider now. Kids looove it!
Action Rhyme: Rain is Falling Down

Songs:
I'm a Book Baby (Toddlers)
These Are My Glasses (Preschoolers)
Reach for the Sky (Both)

Throwback Tuesday! A storytime about our senses (to go with the preschool's theme that week). Which, as it turns out, is a hard theme to plan for squirrely toddlers!

Books:


Extensions:
[tune: The Bear Went Over the Mountain
My (eyes) are made for (seeing).
My (eyes) are made for (seeing).
My (eyes) are made for (seeing).
So I can (see) my world.
mouth...tasting, hands...touching

Flashback Monday! I found some storytimes I never blogged about, so enjoy this dose of spring this first full-week of August. :)

Books:



Extensions:
Song: 10 Little Butterflies
Song: Planting Time (to the tune of Row, Row, Row Your Boat)
Action Rhyme: Tiny Caterpillar

(I didn't do this, but now that I've made it, this butterfly matching game would have been fun to do too!)

Songs:
I'm a Book Baby (younger group)
These Are My Glasses (preschool group)
Reach for the Sky (both groups)

Books:

• Put letters on the Chicka Chicka tree; sing ABCs (Playing & Singing)
• Letter writing practice with the dry erase boards (Writing)

Books:

• Put letters on the Chicka Chicka tree; sing ABCs (Playing & Singing)
• Letter writing practice with the dry erase boards (Writing)

Books:

• Put letters on the Chicka Chicka tree; sing ABCs (Playing & Singing) [so many bodies!]
• Letter writing practice with the dry erase boards (Writing)