In the last two weeks of December, my library system traditionally does not hold storytimes because of low attendance. A lot of people are out of town, or have family in town and don't want to leave them to come to the library. However, I accidentally scheduled Learn and Grow with Rhythm and Flow for today, where it would have been on a normal month. Instead of going through the very difficult cancellation process, I just left it on the calendar. It's lucky that I did, too, because this was the only time our special guest was available to do her Hanukkah presentation for our patrons!
We have a retired volunteer named Natalie who is always an absolute joy when she helps out with programs. She loves being around kids, and is always full of great ideas for how we can expand our program participant base and partnerships with community businesses. Natalie was in the library a few weeks ago just browsing for something to read, and mentioned to me that she had a Hanukkah presentations she has been taking around to local retirement homes. My first question when I talk to anyone now is "Can you do the same thing, but at a preschool level?" She said yes, so we scheduled her and her presentation partner Nancy as special guests for December 22nd.
I spent the morning searching for preschool music having to do with Hanukkah, and found that the Kiboomers actually have a whole Hanukkah album! We used the songs "9 Little Candles," "Sweet Hannukah Gelt," and "Dreidel Dreidel Dreidel." Here is the whole album:
I also found this slightly more rock and roll version of the Dreidel Song by the Kiddie Katz, which I like more than the Kiboomers version. It's slightly easier to listen to seven times in a row.
We started the storytime with my usual hello, because I like to provide something familiar especially when we have a guest presenter that deviates from the regular storytime formula. Then, Natalie read/paraphrased from the nonfiction book Hannukkah by Valerie Bodden.
When she got about halfway through, I could sense the kids getting wiggly. She was at the part about menorahs, so I asked her if it was okay that we take a break and sing a song about the candles in the menorah. We sang the Kiboomers song "9 Little Candles," counting on our fingers and learning what the middle candle is called.
Then Natalie finished going through the book, alternating between historical facts and tidbits about how the holiday is celebrated in the modern world. After the book, she brought out tiny plastic dreidels and chocolate coins (gelt) for all of the kids. I allowed about ten minutes for the kids to play with the dreidels, eat their candy, and color pictures. During this time, I let the Hanukkah music play, bringing attention to "Sweet Hannukah Gelt" and "Dreidel Dreidel Dreidel."
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| Source: TwistyNoodle.com |
When it was about time for storytime to be over, I brought the attention back to the front of the room and we sang out goodbye song and had bubbles. I invited the families to stick around if they wanted, ask our presenters questions, and finish coloring their pictures. My biggest regret of the day was that I got no pictures of all the fun! So here is the model/librarian in a dress I want, to fill space where pictures of my program would go if I were a better multi-tasker.
Here is a list of books I had displayed today:
- Hanukkah by Valerie Bodden
- Honeyky Hanukah by Woody Guthrie (yeah, THAT Woody Guthrie. It comes with a CD)
- Chanukah Lights Everywhere by Michael L. Rosen
- I Have a Little Dreidel by Maxie Baum
- The Hanukkah Mice by Steven Kroll
- My Two Grandmothers by Effin Older
- The Hanukkah Trike by Michele Edwards
- Hanukkah, Oh Hanukkah by Olga and Aleksey Ivanov
- Maccabee! The Story of Hanukkah by Tilda Balsley
- Hoppy Hanukkah! by Linda Glaser
- Hanukkah: Eight Lights Around the World by Susan Sussman
- Hanukkah Moon by Deborah da Costa
- The Best Hanukkah Ever by Barbara Diamond Goldin
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