Preschool Storytime 7-6-17: Feelings

Today's storytime had some good moments, but the second half was overall not very successful because of too many wiggles and too mellow of music and stories. But, it was a learning experience, and maybe I'll try a feelings storytime again at some point. 

First, we said hello with our usual introduction. Our first story was Stuck With the Blooz by Caron Levis. This book is a great one for learning how to get rid of a bad mood, but would be better for one-on-one reading than storytime with a group because of the length. 

Next we sang my favorite version of "Happy and You Know It," and "Milkshake" to get some wiggles out. 

Our second story was I Am Yoga by Susan Verde, which I was especially excited about because of my recent discovery of the music artist Emily Arrow. She takes children's books and writes songs about the stories they tell. We read the book first, and then I attempted to lead the kids in some simple yoga moves while listening to the song. It was a great idea poorly executed because they weren't that receptive, but I might try it again at some point with an older group.

I was successfully able to get the kids to listen to one more short book, Wild Feelings by David Milgrim. It's a very easy book to listen to without a real storyline, just comparisons between feelings and animal traits. If you're ever at a loss in a group of four-year-olds, just ask them what sound a lion makes and enjoy the ROAR!

Our last song before goodbye was "It's Time to Stand Up."

Here is a list of the books I displayed for feelings storytime:

• Feelings—Aliki 
• Consider Love—Boynton
• Who Is Happy?—Jarvis 
• If You’re Happy and You Know It—Ormerod 
• Wild Feelings—Milgrim
• Stuck With the Blooz—Levis
• I Am Yoga—Verde
• Llama Llama Mad at Mama—Dewdney