After we said hello, I introduced the theme and we learned the sign for "monster."
Our first story was Leonardo the Terrible Monster by Mo Willems, which is adorable and just the right humor to catch and keep the interest of a group of preschoolers. I highly recommend it for a preschool class or library storytime.
Next, we did two movement songs. The first was "Games Monsters Play" from Sesame Street, which is a very straightforward movement song. It tells you exactly what to do, from wiggling fingers to flapping elbows.
The second song was "Jumping and Counting," which is less self-explanatory but just as simple. I love this song for getting the wiggles out, because for some reason, three-year-olds love jumping up and down in place. We (they) just jump during the verses, then we stop and count on our fingers. Then, it's time to jump again.
Here is the version I use, and here is a video I found on Youtube of some kids doing the exercise:
Next, I read Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak, which is really more nostalgic for me than anything else. I think the kids did enjoy seeing the pictures though, and having their own short wild rumpus of silly dance moves.
After that we did two more movement songs. With "Ten Little Monsters" we practiced counting on our fingers, and I played it twice through because it's so short.
"I Am A Robot" is a very entertaining song. It does tell you what to do, but it's so fast that none of us usually end up being able to follow the directions. Even so, it's fun to do robot dance moves and power down at the end. The powering down is also very useful for getting them to sit back down and be still for a story.
Our final story of the day was Go to Bed, Monster! by Natasha Wing. In this book, a little girl draws a monster to occupy herself because she can't sleep, but he comes to life and ends up keeping her awake long after she gets tired!
After that story we said goodbye, until next time.
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