Dots and Storytime

We really like to create connections between our programs and our displays. This allows us to draw our patrons in on many levels. Currently our favorite kind of display is the collaborative art project. We loved the gratitude tree experience, we are trying to repeat it in as many manifestations as we can.  Here is our growing dot collage. Using the die cut machine we made a stack of rainbow dots and are encouraging our patrons to design them and put them up in the window. (We do keep the tape at the desk because tape and three year old's are a bad combination) 

                                                            

To help launch our dot display, I hosted a preschool storytime focusing on creativity and imagination. 

We started with Maybe Something Beautiful by Isabel Campoy. It is a little long, but with some quick edits, it worked as the first book. 

Also included were Lots of Dots by Craig Frazier, The Dot by Peter Reynolds, and Not a Box by Antoinette Portis.

We did songs about art (This is the way we paint the wall) and the hokey-pokey with scarves. 

For my flannel board I just cut out many colored flannel dots and encouraged the children come up and help create a design with dots. Mostly they just wanted to put a flannel piece up, but we did get one lovely flower, a stop light, a mouse, and a car. 

For our craft I put out paper plates with three dots of poster paint (red, yellow, and blue) and put out paint brushes and q-tips for dot painting. I brought in some window dots, and a few of the children painted them and put them up in the window! The next thing we are going to add to our window display is some pictures of artrisits who use dots, and some books that families could use 

Littles and How They Grow

Littles and How They Grow by Kelly DiPucchio

I just read this new book in Babytime and I really enjoyed it because it shows diversity among the families.  It was a tad long for Babytime, but I'm sure there is a way to make it shorter. 

Teddy Bear Storytime

Teddy Bear Storytime

I love doing a bear storytime.  I love it even more when I mix Teddy Bears into my storytime.  I have a huge bin of Teddy Bears that I use for songs with the children at the end.  If you ever want to borrow my big bin of bears, please let me know.  I've been collecting teddy bears throughout my career and they are all different and unique and some not-a-bear teddy bears.  I always talk about how it's winter time and the bears are now hibernating (great word to boost their vocabulary) before the reading books.  It's so much fun!  

 Bedtime for Bear by Brett Helquist

This was the favorite for storytime this morning.  Poor bear is so tired, but his friends, two raccoons, really want him to play in the snow with them before he sleeps all winter long. 

 Spring is Here by Will Hillenbrand

This was a fun one to read.  It's spring and Mole wants his friend Bear to watch up.  He tries everything and it's not until makes him a big pancake breakfast before Bear wakes up.  Poor Mole is so tired from trying to wake up Bear that he gets back to sleep at the end. 

Where's My Teddy?  by Jez Alborough

I really like this story.  Poor Eddie has left his teddy in the woods, when he goes to find Eddie he finds that his teddy is now HUGE.  

Songs I use doing my teddy bear storytime:

Two Little Brown Bears, Sitting on a Hill, One Name Jack and One Name Jill

Run away Jack....

Two Little Brown Bears, digging in the Snow, One Name Fast and One Name Slow

Run away Fast....

Two Little Brown Bears feeling quite proud, one name Quiet and one name Loud

Run away Quiet...

Teddy Bear Playhouse by Hap Palmer "So Big" CD

Dance With Your Teddy Bear by Greg & Steve "Jumpin & Jammin" CD

Dance with your Teddy Bear!

Sharing and a Parachute

Thankfulness and Sharing

We had so much fun with a sharing and thankfulness storytime. Sometimes having a group of 8-10 small three-year-olds is perfect. 

"Bow Wow Wow, whose dog are thou? You are _______'s dog. Bow Wow Wow."

As people walked in we wrote down the names on our Dry Erase board, so at each child's name we passed the stuffed dog around the circle until it got back to me. 

We skipped adults, so the small group of kids on the carpet worked out beautifully. 

We had the best conversation with Should I Share My Ice Cream by Mo Willems, many preschoolers had strong feelings about Gerald sharing or not sharing. 

I made a Stone Soup Flannel and handed out the vegetables to the children so that they could each add a vegetable to the soup pot. 

We then shared the Parachute and the songs we came used were:

• If you're happy and you know it shake the chute...jump around
• Popcorn, popcorn sizzling in a pan. We started this with the children holding, but once they got underneath at the end, we had to sing it 2-3 times with them underneath. 
• Parachute up, parachute down, parachute dancing all around the town. Shake it on your shoulders, shake it near your head, shake it at your knees and tuck right into bed. (We all got under the parachute at this last line. We had to sing this three times also. I think the preschoolers could have played with the parachute for the whole half hour!
• We did a round of ring around the rosy, but this was not nearly as popular, and so was harder to coordinate properly; our circle got smooshed and lopsided. 

For our craft we made bookmarks to give as gifts with stickers, since we have a crazy drawer full of stickers, and they had fun. 

We're Going on a Bear Hunt Activity

This book is a favorite of many and very fun to read to groups large and small.  While planning my bear storytime I came across an activity made for this book that is perfect for preschool storytime. When the kids color the page and cut out the figures they can retell the story to others, make up their own related story or practice inventing sounds for the different environments mentioned in the book.   Here is the handout:

Found on PinkStripeySocks.com

Animal Storytime

hello!

this month I am doing animal themed storytimes for babies.

today's picture books were darling:

babytime picture books

sweet book with opportunities for animal sounds & movements

focuses on counting & simple math concepts

songs & rhymes :

• spots, spots, spots, spots
• alice the camel has 5 humps
• two little black birds
• the walrus washes his winter coat (shakers)
• baa baa black sheep (on the ukulele)

flannel:

flannel i made for cat goes fiddle-i-fee!

Foodie Baby Storytime

Hello!

I had a wonderful baby storytime with a culinary focus at Sebastopol, inspired by Atinuke's new beautiful picture book:

I used these foodie songs/rhymes within my outline:

• Bread & Butter
• Toast in the Toaster
• 5 Little Tofu Dogs
• Tops & Bottoms Hand Washing Song
• Bananas Unite! (with flannel board)
• The Milkshake Song
• We Ask for Milk Like This (with sign language)
• Mix a Pancake (with scarves)
• Popcorn Kernels (with scarves)

These flannel characters were fun to make. I paired them with the Bananas / Oranges / Avocado / Yellow Corn UNITE! song. It was a crowd pleaser  :}

Merry Storytime! -Courtney