Storytime--Horses!

Today's storytime was extremely busy! There were two daycares in addition to all the usual familes PLUS a couple new families! Considering all the chaos I was directing, it went pretty well. I was surprised by how into Every Cowgirl Loves A Rodeo and Cowboy Camp they were. I had thought Are You A Horse would be the favorite, but no! The fingerplay was great, better than the flannelboard for once. The flannelboard got crazy, but everybody got back on track when we counted the horses together as we took them off the board.

Books:

 Are You A Horse? by Andy Rash
 Every Cowgirl Loves A Rodeo by Rebecca Janni
Cowboy Camp by Tammi Sauer
Noni the Pony by Alison Lester


Fingerplay:

Ten Galloping Horses

Ten galloping horses, (hold up ten fingers)
Came through town. (slap hands on legs like galloping)
Five were white, (hold up five fingers)
And five were brown. (hold up five fingers on other hand)
They galloped up, (slap up toward top of thighs)
They galloped down, (slap down toward knees)
Ten galloping horses, (hold up ten fingers)
Came through town. (slap hands on legs like galloping)

(Storytime Katie http://storytimekatie.com/2012/11/12/horses-2/)


Action Activity:

Giddy-Up!

(to the tune of the William Tell Overture):
 
“Giddy-up, giddy-up, giddy-up-up-up!
Giddy-up, giddy-up, giddy-up-up-up!
Giddy-up, giddy-up, giddy-up-up-up!
WHOA, Horsie! ”  (we leaned back and paused on this part)

(Anne's Library Life http://anneslibrarylife.wordpress.com/tag/horse-storytime/)


Flannelboard:



All of my horses got away! Can you help me corral them? When I call your horse's color, please bring him up to the board.


(Abby the Librarian http://www.abbythelibrarian.com/2011/10/fall-storytime-horses.html)

Craft:


Yarn Mane Horses



Very easy: Cut out horse head outlines, color the horse, glue yarn for the mane and forelock. I had three colors of yarn and all sorts of crayons. There were some very creatively-colored horses!

Storytime--Dogs!

This was an excellent storytime! The kids I had were very into the books, which was fun! All of the books went over well, but I think Dog In Charge and Bark George were the best. They all loved the end of Digger Dog--it's worth the meh middle portion! The fingerplay and flannelboard went well, but this group was a little old for the action activity.


Books:

Dog in Charge by K.L. Going
Bark George by Jules Feiffer
Digger Dog by William Bee
Ozzie and the Art Contest by Dana Sullivan


Fingerplay:

Puppy’s Doghouse
This is puppy’s doghouse (tips of all fingers together)
This is puppy’s bed (hands flat, palms together)
This is puppy’s snack bowl (cup hands) 
Where he can be fed (eat out of your bowl--nom nom nom!)
This is puppy’s collar (make a circle with hands) 
His name is on it too
Take a ball and throw it (pretend to toss ball)
He’ll bring it back to you! (tap palms on lap)

(Adapted from Perry Public Library http://www.perrypubliclibrary.org/webfm_send/129)



Flannelboard:

 Dog's Colorful Day by Emma Dodd

Here's my storytime adaption of  Dog's Colorful Day. It's nearly word-for-word, I just streamlined it here and there and highlighted the colors to make it easier while in the middle of storytime.

This is Dog. As you can see, Dog is white with one black spot on his left ear.

At breakfast, Dog sits under the table, as usual. Splat! A drip of RED jam lands on his back. Now Dog has 2 spots.

After breakfast, Dog runs outside. He slips past the man painting his front door. His tail dips into the BLUE paint. Now Dog has 3 spots.

Dog runs to the park and rolls on the grass. The grass makes a GREEN stain on his coat! Now Dog has 4 spots.

Dog follows a little boy eating chocolate. The boy gives dog CHOCOLATY BROWN pet, but no chocolate. Now Dog has 5 spots.

A bee buzzes up to see what’s going on! The bee drops YELLOW pollen as it flies by. Now Dog has 6 spots.

Dog trots on through the park. A drop of PINK ice cream lands on his ear! Now Dog has 7 spots.

Time to go home! Dog runs up the street. A bouncing ball splatters Dog with GRAY mud. Now Dog has 8 spots.

In front of the gate, Dog steps on a carton of orange juice. A patch of ORANGE appears on his leg. Now Dog has 9 spots.

Dog races back inside the house, and knocks right into Vicky! Vicky’s PURPLE marker leaves a smudge of Dog’s head. Now Dog has 10 spots.

Vicky looks down at Dog. She counts his colorful spots.

She looks closely at Dog. Dog has: a RED spot of jam, a BLUE blob of paint, a GREEN stain of grass, a BROWN spear of chocolate, a YELLOW patch of pollen, a PINK drop of ice cream, a GRAY splatter of mud, an ORANGE splash of juice, a PURPLE smudge of ink, and a BLACK spot on his ear!

You need a bath, Dog!

When Dog climbs into bed that night, he has just one black spot on his left ear


Action Activity:

Call the puppy  [Beckon with hand or finger.]
And give him some milk. [Pretend to pour milk in to bowl.]
Brush his coat [Pretend to brush dog.]
Till it shines like silk
Call the dog
And give him his bone [Hold two fingers as though holding a bone.]
Take him for a walk [Pretend to hold leash.]
Then put him in his home. [Form shape of dog house with hands.]

(From SurLaLune Storytimes http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/storytime/dogs/)



Craft: 

 

Dog's Colorful Day Craft

We glued pom-poms onto printouts of Dog from out flannelboard!

Storytime--Father's Day

Another smallish Storytime, but a very good one! Everybody was really into the stories and we had a good time talking about the books as we read. I taught the kids sign language for "I love you", which was fun, and the action activity was great! The kids were saying "do it again!" after we finished so we did it twice. After book number 4, I asked if they knew what time it was, and a little girl said "CRAFT TIME!", which  made my day! That The craft was great too; I wasn't sure if it was going to hold their attention or not but they all had a really good time with it.


Books:

Because I'm Your Dad by Ahmet Zappa
How To Babysit A Grandpa by Jean Reagan
A Wild Father's Day by Sean Callahan
My Daddy Is A Giant by Carl Norac

Fingerplay:

I love to snuggle in Daddy's lap;
And squeeze him tight like this! (hug self)

I love to tell him "I love you" (I love you sign language)
And give him a great big kiss! (blow kiss)

(From Storytime ABC's   http://librarystorytimeabcs.blogspot.com/2012/06/books-my-daddy-is-special.html)


Action Activity:

My daddy works with one hammer, one hammer,

one hammer, (pound one fist on ground)

My daddy works with one hammer,

and now he works with two! (pound two fists on ground)

My daddy works with two hammers, two hammers,

two hammers, (pound two fists on ground)

My daddy works with two hammers,

and now he works with three! (pound two fists and stomp one foot)

My daddy works with three hammers, three hammers, 

three hammers, (pound two fists and stomp one foot)

My daddy works with three hammers,

and now he works with four! (pound two fists and stomp both feet)

My daddy works with four hammers, four hammers,

four hammers, (pound two fists and stomp both feet)

My daddy works with four hammers,

and now he needs a nap! (collapse onto ground) 

(From I Read To Relax! http://ireadtorelax.blogspot.com/2012/02/terrific-threes-and-super-storytime.html)

Flannelboard:

That's How Much I Love You



I love you, I love you, I love you, I do....
If you were a sock, I'd be your shoe...

 I love you, I love you, I love you, you see...
But the best pair of all is by far you and me!

(From Read, Rhyme, and Sing: http://readrhymesing.blogspot.com/2014/04/flannel-friday-thats-how-much-i-love-you.html )


Craft:

Ties for Dad!

Storytime--Cats

To promote the SRP, I've decided to do pet-themed storytimes to kick off the summer. We started with cats, mostly because I had the books ready already! I had an oddly quiet and small storytime today, but it went pretty well considering. I forgot the words to my fingerplay so I made then up as I went--ahhhhh! The favorite book today was definitely There Are Cats In This Book, which is totally adorable.


Books:

The Secret Life of Walter Kitty by Barbara Jean Hicks
There Are Cats In This Book by Viviane Schwartz
Mr. Pusskins and Little Whiskers by Sam Lloyd
Kitten's First Full Moon by Kevin Henkes

Flannelboard:


 

Kitty cat, Kitty cat,
Where's that little mouse at?

I hid the mouse under one of the kitties and asked the kids to guess where it was. I only used 6 of the kitties at a time, but I couldn't resist making them all!

Fingerplay:


“Five Little Kittens”

Five little kittens standing in a row
They nod their heads to the children so
They run to the left, they run to the right
They stand up and stretch in the bright sunlight
Along comes a dog, who’s in for some fun
M-e-oooow, see those kittens run!

 (I saw this one on several different sites, not sure who to credit it to)


Craft:



Color Kitties

I cut out the pieces and let the kids color their kitties any way they wanted. I colored mine to look like my own cat :)


Action Activity:

I'm A Little Kitty Cat from Jbrary

The ladies at Jbrary are wonderful! This is my first time using one of their songs and it won't be the last for sure