Halloween Boo 2018

My library always does a special Halloween storytime on whichever Preschool Storytime day is closest to Halloween. It consists of two parts: storytime, and then a costume parade through the library as the families make their way through trick-or-treat stations. While this is always the formula, the youth services team nominates someone each year to organize and run the program since it has the second-highest attendance of the year (the first is, perhaps unsurprisingly, the SRP kickoff). This year it was my turn!

Facilitating Halloween Boo consists of planning the trick-or-treat stations and leading storytime. For the stations this year, I decided on four: stickers, candy, a take-home craft, and a book. We're lucky enough to have about 100 new Halloween books donated to each branch yearly for this event, so we give those out on a one-per-family basis to make sure there is enough for everyone. Stickers and candy are easy enough to buy in bulk. The take-home craft I chose was a bat headband that consisted of four parts: the bat, the paper headband, self-adhesive googly eyes, and an instruction sheet.

Instruction sheet (made in Canva)

Me modeling the finished product

For the storytime, I ended up alone in front of over 200 attendees because our other librarians were busy with crowd control and making sure the crowded room stayed safe. Luckily our Vice Mayor stopped by to run a trick-or-treat station, and also came up to dance with me during the intro.

Storytime went like this:

Intro: "Hello Hello" and "Open, Shut Them"

Story: Shake Dem Halloween Bones by W. Nikola-Lisa
Before starting the book I taught everyone the refrain so they could chant with me. It was a great way to get 200 people engaged in the story.

Shake, shake, shake dem bones

Shake, shake, shake dem bones

Shake, shake, shake dem bones

At the hip hop Halloween ball!

Also, since our huge program room was full to capacity, I found the Ebook version of this and projected it on the wall behind me. This was much more effective than reading a physical book in front of a crowd that large because everyone could see the pictures.

Movement Songs: "Baby Shark Halloween" and "Ten Little Monsters"
I projected the videos for these songs as we sang and danced. Still effective directed movement, but a little extra excitement for this special day.

After the second movement song, I did my best to get the group organized into a line before they left the program room for the parade. The first trick-or-treat, the sticker, came as they left the room and ventured into the rest of the library.

The Incredible Hulk came to storytime!

So did Iron Man! (This is my friend Muffin and he just keeps getting older)

Regular storytimers in their awesome homemade costumes!

Me with an airplane, a robin bird, and a fairy princess

Me with an airplane and a fairy princess

Toddlertime 4-25-18: Ocean

Sticking to a theme for Toddlertime is much more difficult than it is for Preschool Storytime, especially since my revelation that toddlers are large babies, not small preschoolers. But, sometimes choosing a theme still helps me make a storytime plan. Today I decided to revisit my theme of the ocean, which has been successful in the past. Plus, who wouldn't take every opportunity possible to sing the Goldfish song?

After saying hello this morning, our first story was Hooray for Fish! by Lucy Cousins.

I love this book for toddlers. The combination of very few words on each page and the happy, dynamic illustrations keep a large group of toddlers engaged.

Because I couldn't choose between them, we did two movement songs after the book: "The Goldfish" (because duh) and "Slippery Fish."

To calm everyone down after our dance party and get ready to hear a felt story, I used the "Everybody Do This Just Like Me" chant. This one is interesting because you need to change up the movements often to keep the kids interested. The point is for them to watch your movements and try to follow what you do, instead of wiggling around. You might have to repeat the first verse 2 or more times. I wouldn't move on to "Everybody sit down" until the group is calm, listening, and ready to sit.

Everybody do this just like me (movement 1)
Everybody do this just like me (movement 2)
Everybody do this just like me (movement 3)
Everybody do this just... (movement 1)
Like... (movement 2)
Me. (movement 3)

(motion for kids to sit down)
Everybody sit down quietly
Everybody sit down quietly
Everybody sit down quietly
Everybody sit down just... like... me.

I did a very simple felt story today, "Five Little Jellyfish."

I like to get the kids involved with this by asking them to help me count down as I remove jellyfish one verse at a time, and to help me identify what color each jellyfish is.

Five little jellyfish swimming by the shore
The yellow one got lost, and then there were four.

Four little jellyfish swimming in the sea
The blue one swam far away, and then there were three.

Three little jellyfish in the ocean blue
The red one took a seahorse ride, and then there were two.

Two little jellyfish swimming in the sun
The orange one took a dive, and then there was one.

One green jellyfish swimming all alone
And then it was time for him to go home!

Finally, we sang "Baby Shark," "Peek-a-Boo," and then said goodbye to all our friends until next time. 

Click here to listen to the version of "Peek-a-Boo" I use. 

Toddler Time 2-14-18

Today, for the first time since I started working in Mesa, I used a NEW HELLO SONG in Toddler Time! I got this song from my programming partner Sara. This song is a capella; no background music means the kids and parents have to sing along louder. It's also got built in movements with it, and those movements help you keep the beat while you're singing!

I use totally different lyrics, but this video will give you an idea of the tune:

Here are the lyrics we use here:

This is the way we wave hello,
Wave hello, wave hello.
This is the way we wave hello,
Hello, hello, hello.

Repeat with clap, tap (stomping feet), and then close it out with another chorus of wave.

Another reason I love this song is it lends itself perfectly to a goodbye song as well. At the end of storytime, the kids are already familiar with the goodbye song even if it's their first time!

After out new hello song, we continued with the rest of my regular storytime intro (minus "Hello Friends").

Our first story today was actually a flannel board story: Teddy Wore His Red Shirt. If you are familiar with "Mary Wore Her Red Dress," this is the same song and concept. We repeated the song for Teddy's red dress, blue pants, yellow hat, green socks, black mittens, and then Teddy's whole outfit.

Teddy wore his outfit,
Outfit, outfit,
Teddy wore his outfit
All day long.

For our two movement songs today, I went for classics: "Happy and You Know It" and "Hokey Pokey." I think it's adorable that some of my storytime regulars and their parents know my version of "Happy and You Know It" includes tickle bugs.

Click here for my version of the Hokey Pokey

Our book today was The Day it Rained Hearts by Felicia Bond. I chose this one for the day because it's Valentine's Day! It's a cute story about a girl making valentines for all her friends using the hearts that fall from the sky. 

Our last movement songs were "Baby Shark" and "Peek-a-Boo." 

Click here to listen to the version of "Peek-a-Boo" I use

Then, we sang our new a capella goodbye song, followed by bubbles.

This is the way we wave goodbye,

Wave goodbye, wave goodbye.

This is the way we wave goodbye,

Goodbye, goodbye, goodbye.

Repeat with clap, tap (stomping feet), and then close it out with another chorus of wave.

After saying goodbye I invited everyone to our Valentine's Day Party in the children's room of the library. They all joined me for cookies and valentine making!

Preschool Storytime 12-5-17

Hello again! You can view my Preschool Storytime hello and goodbye here. I like to begin and end consistently each week so the kids learn the songs and begin to fall into a routine, which will help them later on when they are in school.

Our first story today was We Are Best Friends by Robyn Newton. It is a board book, but more appropriate for preschoolers than for babies because it has a full verse of a rhyming poem on each page. It's fun to have the kids tell you what is on each page; the sets of best friends range from a fork and spoon, to milk and cookies, to salt and pepper. 

Next we sang my version of "I'm a Little Teapot," which comes with a bonus verse of "Two Little Blackbirds" to the same tune.

Here is the version of these songs I use.

And here is Jbrary demonstrating the same moves I teach the kids for both classic nursery rhymes.

After that mellow song, we did a very NOT-mellow song: "I Am a Robot." It is an instructed gesture song, asking the kids to jump, run, hop on one foot, etc., but it moves so quickly that a lot of them don't catch on. For this reason, I prefer to use this one as a get-the-wiggles-out helper instead of worrying about the instruction too much. And, keeping the structure looser allows plenty of time for the preschoolers to show me their amazing robot dance moves.

To calm back down for another story after that high energy exercise, I hauled out the "Hippo on the Bus" chant. I demonstrated it once, and then encouraged both kids and grownups to keep time by hitting their knees with open palms and chant with me as we did it two more times.

A hip, a hip, a hippotomous
Got on, got on, got on the city bus
And all, and all, and all the people fussed...
STOP SQUISHING US!
(On that last line, squish your cheeks in from both sides so your mouth looks funny and speech is distorted, as if you were being squished by a hippo)

Our second story was The Night Before Preschool by Natasha Wing. Since Christmas is coming up I thought this rhyming story would be a nice mention of the season without getting too heavy handed about a holiday not everyone celebrates. This book isn't holiday-oriented at all, except to borrow the rhythm of "Twas the Night Before Christmas." The kids seemed engaged while I read this book, calling out things they saw on each page and telling me how they thought the kids in the illustrations were feeling.

After the story, we sang and moved to "Baby Shark" and "Peek-a-Boo." I like "Baby Shark" because it includes very easy, obvious movements (sharks of different sizes, swimming, sunny day, wiping your brow for "safe at last") that the kids catch onto quickly. As a bonus, the grownups always think Grandpa Shark, making a shark mouth with your fists because Grandpa has no teeth, is hilarious.

Click here to listen to the version of "Baby Shark" I use. (link to come)

Even though it's not exactly the song I use, here is a video of some kids acting out the song similarly to how I demonstrate it at storytime. 

And another bonus, here is an adorable Halloween version of the song that was a hit at our Spooky Singalong in October:

Even though I usually only use "Peek-a-Boo" with the babies, older kids also like to do it occasionally. Today I noticed a few in the group peek-a-boo-ing their parents and younger siblings. This song is just a fun one to have in your back pocket whenever you are around little ones because it's catchy, and once they get it they'll sing it to themselves or their sibling for hours. 

Click here to listen to the version of "Peek-a-Boo" I use. 

Then, we said goodbye to all our friends with a little sign language, a little more singing, and of course, bubbles.