Storytime Surprise, Tuesday, October 19

Tomorrow's books are a surprise, but here are some of the fingerplays we'll be using:

The Hooky Spooky (to the Hokey Pokey)

You put your head in, you put your head out
You put your head in, and you shake it all about
You do the hooky spooky and you give a little shout
BOOs what it's all about!
(repeat arm, leg, etc.)

Scarecrow (to Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear)

Scarecrow, scarecrow turn around
Scarecrow, scarecrow jump up and down
Scarecrow, scarecrow arms up high
Scarecrow, scarecrow blink your eyes
Scarecrow, scarecrow bend your knees
Scarecrow, scarecrow flap in the breeze
Scarecrow, scarecrow climb into bed
Scarecrow, scarecrow rest your head

Five Little Pumpkins

Five little pumpkins
Sitting on a gate
The first one said,
"Oh my, it's getting late!"
The second one said,
"There are witches in the air!"
The third one said,
"But we don't care."
The fourth one said,
"Let's run and run and run!"
The fifth one said,
"I'm ready for some fun!"
WOO-OOOO went the wind
And OUT went the lights
And five little pumpkins
Rolled out of sight.

The Ghost

I saw a ghost (fingers circle eyes)
He saw me too (point to yourself)
I waved at him (wave)
But he said, "BOO!" (to person next to you)

Early Literacy - Developing Narrative Skills

On Tuesday in storytime, we asked a lot of "what's next?" type of questions - what do you think bear will do?" or "where do you think the ducks are going?" These kinds of questions encourage the development of a child's narrative skills - their ability to tell stories, and one of the six prereading skills. When a child can explain what went on, and the order in which it went, it helps them to understand the meaning, contributing to later reading comprehension. Dinosaur vs. Bedtime is an example of a book that easily allows you to do this - dinosaur heads off the right side of the page roaring, but we don't know until the page turn who he might challenge next. Other opportunities for developing narrative skills present themselves during the day - tell each other about your day at dinnertime, for example. I've always loved having puppets in the library, and listening to the stories the kids whisper to themselves using the characters. Your child's stuffed animals would work just as well. What stories can you tell with your toddler today?

Ducking into Autumn....Storytime, October 12

The leaves may not be turning in the valley yet, but the fruit is ripening. Found some Jonathans at the farmers market on Saturday - tasty for eating but sadly, too small for pie. We're starting storytime off with:

Ducking for Apples, by Lynne Berry
a new addition to Berry's rhyming "duck" series (these ducks do all sorts of fun things...camping, skating....).

Then we'll explore autumn with a wide-eyed young bear experiencing it (with alarm!)for the first time, in David Ezra Stein's Leaves, one of my favorites for fall, now also available as a board book. (Another favorite is Fall Is Not Easy, by Marty Kelley, but the humor in that one is more preschool/early elementary than toddler....still, if you have an older child, check it out....).

We'll close with Bob Shea's Dinosaur vs. Bedtime an excellent book for bedtime, naptime, storytime....if your child likes this one (there might be one or two that don't - it could happen), check out Dinosaur vs. the Potty, Shea's new book.






Some new songs and fingerplays:

Three Red Apples

Three red apples
Hanging on a tree
The juiciest apples
You ever did see
The wind came past
With an angry frown
And one little apple
Came tumbling down.
(two, one..)

and another, along the lines of "Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear":

Dinosaur, dinosaur
Turn around
Dinosaur, dinosaur
Touch the ground
Dinosaur, dinosaur
Roar, roar, roar
Dinosaur, dinosaur
Sit on the floor

And, of course, one to go with Leaves:

Leaves are floating softly down (raise arms and flutter fingers downward)
They make a carpet on the ground
Then swish! The wind comes whirling by (sweep ground with hands)
And sends them dancing to the sky (flutter fingers upward)

See you tomorrow for some storytime fun!

A Little Bit of This....Storytime, October 5

It is fall, isn't it? And sometime soon the leaves will be changing, etc., etc. But with 80 or 90 degree days we've been having, they're not doing that yet, so in the meantime....we'll be doing a little bit of this, and a little bit of that this week. These are some books and authors that I really like for toddlers.

Books (click on the title to place a hold on the book)

Gotcha, by Gail Jorgensen

This is actually the only book by Jorgensen that we still have in the system - most of her books are out of print. I wish they weren't! It's Bertha Bear's birthday, and she's celebrating with cake, but the fly wasn't invited....

Tall, by Jez Alborough

Jez Alborough is probably a favorite author of many a toddler, even if they don't know what an author is. Check out some of his other books, about characters such as Duck (try, Duck in the Truck) or Bear (My Friend Bear).





Where is Tippy Toes, by Betsy Lewin

This is a new one that just came in, and seemed like fun for our toddler time....Betsy Lewin does more illustration than writing - she's done a lot of the illustrations for Doreen Cronin's books, for example (Click, Clack, Moo).







Songs

Happy song

Walking, walking

and, we'll be adding the Wiggle Song (from the Dragon Tunes cd). The actions are somewhat self explanatory:
Wiggle your fingers
Wiggle your toes
Wiggle your hands and
Wiggle your nose
Wiggle your pinkies
Wiggle your thumbs
Wiggle and a giggle
And beat that drum
Come on and let's get busy
Wiggling is so much fun
Come on and let's get busy
Lot's of fun now everyone

--- Chorus ---
Na na na na na na
Wiggle up
Na na na na na na
Wiggle down
Na na na na na na
Wiggle all around
Na na na
The Wiggle Song

Some of the fingerplays and action rhymes we'll be doing include:

Me
I can stand
up very tall
Then make myself
so very small

I can be
tall like a tree
But here I am
Just being me

Make a wish
Big chocolate cake
Ice cream in a dish
Here are the candles
Now make a wish!

Birthday cakeToday is my birthday,
Let's make a birthday cake
Mix and stir
Stir and mix
Then into the oven to bake.
Peek in the oven
How long does it take?
Sniff, sniff,
It smells so good!
My beautiful birthday cake.

If it's as rainy as it's supposed to be, it might be fun to go home after storytime and bake a cake - your toddler's job is to dump in the ingredients and lick the spoons, of course. Or, maybe just stop in the bakery down the street and browse the display there....