Today we had a bubble themed story time for our toddlers and we had so much fun! We read Rabbit Ears by Amber Stewart, Who’s in the Tub? by Sylvie Jones, and Bubble Trouble by Joy N. Hulme. Rabbit Ears is about a little bunny who doesn’t want to wash his ears until he realizes that in order to grow up and stay at his cousin’s house, he needs to learn how to wash his ears. Who’s in the Tub? is about a little boy who is hesitant to get in the tub for his bath, but once he’s finally in, he’s having too much fun to get out! And Bubble Trouble is a quick Easy Reader that talks about blowing bubbles and how they POP! We also sang 5 Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed (a crowd favorite among the toddlers) and we shook our Shaker Eggs to the music of the Rubber Duckie song from Sesame Street. I also taught two American Sign Langauge , signs to the kids today the sign for “bubbles” and the sign for “bath.” After we read all of our stories, I blew bubbles for the kids for a few minutes. It was absolutely adorable to see them having so much fun with the bubbles! I forget how much fun something so simple could be!
Here’s another Book Babies plan! This was the plan for September, 2023. Instead of doing a prop this month, we got up and did some dancing with our little ones! At first, it felt a little awk…
Preschool themes page with activities for art, science, math, dramatic play, reading, writing and more for over 140 themes!
Books “Move Over, Rover” by Karen Beaumont “Raindrop Plop” by Wendy Cheyette Lewison “Rain” by Manya Stojic Five Little Raindrops (tune: Itsy Bitsy Spider) Five …
Adorable rainbow stew felt board set from Flannel Board Fun!
How do you explain weather to your preschool kids? When I was a child, the weather was something that both delighted and scared me. Here are some great books to help your kids understand all types of
Here’s another Book Babies plan! This was the plan for September, 2023. Instead of doing a prop this month, we got up and did some dancing with our little ones! At first, it felt a little awk…
This guide to fingerplay covers what it is & why it’s important for child’s development. We also share 25 illustrated examples of fingerplay.
I presented this plan to a toddler group the same morning I shared Night Sounds with our mixed-age family crowd. Like that plan, I love how everything in this storytime revolved around phonological…
Here’s another Book Babies plan! This was the plan for September, 2023. Instead of doing a prop this month, we got up and did some dancing with our little ones! At first, it felt a little awk…
Around the time of American Thanksgiving, I think it’s great to reflect on gratefulness and feeling thankful. Because this holiday is so intertwined with false historical narratives and the l…
In another attempt to avoid holiday programming while still celebrating a universal happy winter feeling, my last storytime of December was focused on the feeling of “coziness.” I invit…
Waiting is hard. I think we can all universally agree on that. Waiting is especially hard when you are a little kid. This story is all about the waiting struggle. It will not solve the issue or truth that waiting is hard, but I think it helps kids feel seen when you state things like […]
We are missing the zoo these days! Luckily we went right before everything shut down so the memories are still nice and fresh. Giants of the Savanna is by far our favorite area! Elephants and giraf…
Books “Owl Babies” by Martin Waddell “I’m Not Cute” by Jonathan Allen “‘Wow’ Said the Owl” by Tim Hopgood Wide-Eyed Owl There’s a wide-ey…
Great ideas for free preschool games! Perfect inside or outside, during circle time, at home, or to develop gross motor and critical listening skills.
Here’s another Book Babies plan! This was the plan for September, 2023. Instead of doing a prop this month, we got up and did some dancing with our little ones! At first, it felt a little awk…
Okay, so really some of these are sub-Saharan critters. Lions, zebras and giraffes don't live in jungles, right? Monkeys do...and crocodiles, and jungle elephants. But anyway, on with the rhyme! I realize my giraffe is missing some important parts. They're going on tomorrow! You can read the background story below if you're interested, but if not, let's just cut to the chase! Choose five of your animals and line 'em up. Put your sub-Saharan scene a bit away from your animals, and commence your chant: This little monkey went to market. This little lion stayed home. This little zebra ate grass. And this little elephant ate none. And this little crocodile went "snap snap snap snap!" all the way home! Move the crocodile to the picture as you're saying the last few lines, then move him back to the front of the line of animals and start over. Always put your returning animal at the front of the line, so that the next time you do the rhyme you'll have a new animal at the end of the line--that's the one that goes "all the way home". You can really use this rhyme with any set of five animals--farm, zoo, jungle, pets, etc. You could do it with bugs, even. And sea creatures! Just make sure you know what everyone eats and what noise or movement they make before you get started :) And guess what? This set is for sale at my Etsy shop! The Flannel Friday roundup is being hosted this week by Kate at Felt Board Magic! You'll also find other Flannel Friday goodies at Pinterest, Facebook, and the FF blog--check them out! _________________________________________________________________________________ Background Story:A few weeks ago I was playing with one of my two year olds with these sorting farm animals: We were lining them up, building homes for them, making them slide down ramps, and just generally having a good old time with them. (They are great, and most sorting toys are too small for below age three, so I especially love these guys!) At one point I started doing the This Little Piggy rhyme, but the row of animals I was pointing at had only one piggy, so I substituted the other animals names and sounds, and did the rhyme that way. It was a hit--I had to do it at least 17 times before I was allowed to play anywhere else! Yesterday when I pulled out my Herman the Worm flannel board story, I recalled the hacked version of This Little Piggy rhyme and tried it with the Herman and his friends. It worked, and I decided I wanted a set to devote to it. I went for jungle animals because there are already so many farm songs and poems swimming around in my head, and I wanted to change things up a bit.
Good morning! Today's storytime theme: Daytime, Nighttime looks at the similarities and differences between day and night!
This is a great way to help children with retelling a story. It builds comprehension, sequencing and it is fun! It is simple – on a long piece of bulletin board paper – draw a winding path. At the beginning of the path, draw a visual clue of the first event. I did this Storytelling […]
Chickens are funny little creatures. They’re always fun to watch when we visit farms, which is something I feel compelled to do each Fall. There have been some amazingly comedic and clever picture books feature chickens published in the past few years and I couldn’t help myself from making another farm themed story time. affiliate […]
This storytime was for a visiting preschool class here at my library, after a tour of the building. I wanted to educate them on all things library! Read Aloud Books Read It, Don't Eat It!Written and illustrated by by Ian Schoenherr Now you have the book, what should you do with it? A list of rules in a way, but with a fantastic rhythm and rhyme scheme. It was the perfect way to talk about how we treat our books at the library. We Are in a Book! Written and illustrated by Mo Willems A reader is reading us! How fun! But what will happen when the book ends?? Yes, yes, I found another reason to use my favorite book. It's cute and hilarious. The kids enjoyed it. And it makes sense with the flannel I chose today. Book! Book! Book!Written by Deborah Bruss, illustrated by Tiphanie Beeke The animals on the farm are bored! When they see a bunch of happy people coming from the library, they decide to try it out. So this one is just sort of silly, but it did get some chuckles at the end. Songs & Rhymes Hello Song Song: If You're a Reader (Tune: If you're happy and you know it) If you're a reader and you know it, clap your hands If you're a reader and you know it, clap your hands If you're a reader and you know it, and you really want to show it If you're a reader and you know it, clap your hands And because we read Book, Book, Book... Song: Old MacDonald Had a Farm Goodbye Song Games & Activities Felt: Where's Piggie? Craft: Bookmarks Credit due to Storytime Katie, which is where I found the link to Elizabeth Dulemba's clipart, but here's the bookmark the kids got to color at the end. They also got some old Summer Reading Program stickers and colored pencils. It was well-received. Other Book Ideas Amelia Bedelia's First Library CardWritten by Herman Parish, illustrated by Lynne Avril Curious George Visits the LibraryWritten by H. A. & Margret Rey, illustrated by Martha Weston The Boy Who Was Raised by LibrariansWritten by Carla Morris, illustrated by Brad Sneed
Themed story times that you will find on this blog: Baking Breakfast Cars and Trucks / Transportation Christmas Clouds Elephant Farm Flow...
Saturday Storytime: Squirrels is a perfect storytime for the fall as we see squirrels scampering around preparing for winter!
14 Preschool Spring songs and fingerplays that are terrific for learning speech and language plus spring crafts for kids, game ideas and spring speech therapy activities.
Here are 10 fun fingerplays for toddlers and preschool kids. They are great for building your kids' fine motor skills, vocabulary and listening skills.
15 Singable Autumn Songs for Preschoolers and Toddlers. Fingerplays and songs about leaves, apples, spiders, pumpkins, squirrels, & bunnies.
