Catch the Possibilities

Books:


Letter Tree/Letter of the Day: T

Action Rhyme: A Tree is a Home
A tree may be a home for a bird (flap arms like a bird)
A tree may be a home for bee (buzz your hand around)
A tree may be a home for snake (slithering snake with hands)
A tree may be a home for monkey (swing your arms)
Hmmm. I wonder if a tree would make a good home for me?

Flannel Song: I'm a Tree, I have Four Needs (Tune: Skip to My Lou)
I'm a tree, I have four needs.
I'm a tree, I have four needs.
I'm a tree, I have four needs.
Do you know what they are?
(I need lots and lots of sun, to grow big and strong)
(I need water now and then, to grow big and strong)
(I need air just like you, to grow big and strong)
(I need soil for my roots, to grow big and strong)

Songs:
Glad to See You by Peter and Ellen Allard (from Sing It! Say It! Stamp It! Sway It!)
The Birds in the Trees by Mr. Eric and Mr. Michael (from Groovy Green by The Learning Groove)--we sang along with the cd and then made up our own silly verses)
Goodbye, Goodbye by Joanie Leeds (from I'm a Rock Star)

Craft: Arm/Fingerprint Fall Trees

Materials:

• Fingerprint paper
• Paint
• Crayons

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)

Several years back, I saw a post on Made by Joel about a DIY Design Felt Board for Babies. I loved the idea, and immediately knew I wanted to make sets for my library. I had a volunteer cover cardboard with felt, (we used black and dark blue because it was on hand), and cut out basic shapes in white. The high contrast makes it easier for little ones to differentiate between the background and the shape. I deployed them in a storytime and sat back to watch the interaction.


Some babies were content to just tap and slap their hands on the boards. Some grabbed onto some the pieces and curled them up tight in their fists. Some swatted the pieces off and weren't sure what to do next. Others carefully picked off the pieces and put them back on. Lots of pieces went straight into mouths. :) Caregivers let the babies explore, and talked about the different shapes and the texture of the felt. I heard many say how neat this was and thought they could make one at home.


Some of you do crafts with your babies and tots, and this could be a fun idea. Felt does come on bolts in the fabric section of a craft or fabric store, which would be great for a project like this so you're not limited to the size of a felt sheet for your background and can get nice big shapes that are appropriate for developing eyes for the pieces.

In terms of storage, my idea was to tape a Ziploc storage bag on the back of each board with packing tape to store the pieces in.

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'm late to this party, but I have had a draft post sitting in my files since last April! Lots of smart and talented colleagues have shared their thoughts on the subject already. See here, here, here, here, here, and here for other posts on the topic.

My mom told me a story once about my neighbor, Bob. He asked my mom one day if I knew a song for everything, because one of my favorite activities when I was young was singing to myself while swinging on our swing set in the backyard. Apparently I would do it for long periods of time. Music is something that ingrained in who I am and how I experience the world.

I know that I have a pleasant singing voice. I get compliments from storytime attendees all the time when I sing in programs. But I definitely have had experiences like Katy where I'm the only one singing even though all the caregivers are participating in the actions. So I do a mix of a capella singing and recorded music.

I sing. I can't help myself. At least once a day someone says something in casual conversation that reminds me of snippets of lyrics. I like playing the "what tune can I sing this to" game with rhymes and books. In storytimes sometimes I'll play a song (like Birds in the Trees), so everyone has a chance to hear how the melody and accompaniment sound together, and then we'll sing it a capella as a group so we can add additional verses or do it faster or slower, or in robot voices, or something else silly. Sometimes I make up little "songs" as we put scarves or shakers away. We sing a lot in my Rock, Rattle, and Rhyme program (for 0-36 months) because we utilize mainly classic, American childhood songs or piggyback lyrics with those familiar melodies, but I do sometimes incorporate recorded music with different activities.

I also use iTunes to organize all my music files at work. I have a lot of music. I use the files to introduce jazz music, classical music, "kid classics" like Raffi, Jim Gill, and Wee Sing, "radio" music from the likes of The Beatles, Johnny Cash, Bobby Darin, local artists like the Okee Dokee Brothers, Paul Spring and Go Fish. I like to include such a variety because part of childhood is just being exposed to different things. I did a storytime last year where we listened to Skater's Waltz and "skated" on top of a parachute. The kids were really into it. I love watching their faces trying to figure out Mumbles by the Oscar Peterson Trio. Grandparents and parents sing every word of "Splish Splash," or "Surfin' USA" while we play with bubbles. Those moments of engagement are so fun to watch as a presenter. Recorded music is also great for using rhythm sticks and shakers. Even if I put all my might into projecting, I just can't counter 20 energetic preschoolers making music, but I can crank up the volume to compensate.

Its also a chance for me as a presenter to fully engage with the kids and the activity. This might not be everyone's experience, but it is mine. When I'm the one responsible for "initiating" the music, I have to use more of my brain and less of my heart to make sure I'm singing the correct words, making the appropriate action, singing loudly enough for all to hear, enunciating extra clearly, looking at all of the audience, etc. I find I'm more focused internally, focused more on the "performance" aspect of the song. While I do sing along with recorded music, I'm also "off the hook" in terms of "performing." I can dance and sing and not worry about the whole song falling apart because I had a momentary blank on the lyrics or clapped my hands when I was supposed to be turning in a circle. In other words, I get to use my heart more than my brain. Obviously I'm always alert to signs of boredom, cues the group needs more direction or a suggested movement to get them back on track, etc. but it's easier to do that when you're participating more than you are leading (at least for me). I'm more likely to really see and digest what the kids are doing too. I use an opening song for an entire year (currently Glad to See You by Peter and Ellen Allard) and I am able to take the time to observe a toddler go from just being capable of doing 2/5 actions (usually clapping their hands and shaking their hips), to mastery of less familiar movements in the song towards the Spring.

I'm going to end with a quote from Music and Movement: a Way of Life for the Young Child, a textbook written by Linda Carol Edwards, Kathleen M. Bayless, and Marjorie E. Ramsey. In it they say, "Music and movement represent ways of knowing as well as ways of expressing feeling, and they allow children to move beyond the common ways of experiencing their world and expressing what they know about it." (6th edition, pg41). So whether you sing a capella, use recorded music, or both-- keep doing what you're doing!

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