I had some extra time last week because the trains were in our program room, so I used it to plan a full month of Preschool Storytime themes with books, songs, and crafts all having to do with those themes. I am so excited to share them with the kids, and report on them in this blog!
First up was the theme of dogs. I got the idea for this theme from Jbrary's list of favorite 2017 storytime picture books. The book I Got a New Friend was on the list, and I found out we have it in our catalogue! So after making sure I could physically lay my hands on it, I planned a whole storytime around this book.
After saying hello (my introduction did not change with the new year because, why fix what isn't broken?), we learned the American Sign Language sign(s) and Baby Sign for "dog." I explained that the baby sign is for those who might not have very developed motor skills yet. Actually, the three signs can be broken down as baby, toddler, and preschool and up. The most beginning is just panting to imitate a dog, the intermediate is slapping your thigh as if you are calling a dog, and the advanced version is slapping your thigh and snapping. There are a lot of accepted signs for "dog."
Our first book today was Found Dogs by Erica Sirotich. This book was just published in 2017, and has a lot of very pleasing illustrations. It's fun and cartoonish to look at, which I think kept the attention of our especially wiggly group today. I also encouraged the kids to count with me as we saw one, two, three, etc. dogs of different colors and ages, all the way up to ten, and then count down again from ten to one. At the end (spoiler alert), all the dogs find their forever homes and get adopted! This book was an unexpected preschool storytime goldmine. I'm so glad I found it.
Because I wanted to provide a dynamic, educational storytime while simultaneously sticking with the theme, I decided to play the song "I Wanna Be a Dog" by Charlotte Diamond while we shook egg shakers. I figured it's music education, practicing shaking on the beat, and developing gross motor skills, while listening to a cute song about being a dog.
(On the CD recording, she does not include the introduction.)
After collecting the egg shakers, we were still pretty full of wiggles. Luckily, I expected this and planned a calm-down chant that we could say as many times as necessary. I wrote the words out on a white board so the kids and grownups could follow along. We also had a gesture to go with each line.
Call the puppy (Hands by your mouth like you are calling someone)
Give him some milk (Hold out cupped hands)
Brush his fur 'til he shines like silk (Pretend to hold and brush a small dog)
Call the puppy (Hands by your mouth like you are calling someone)
Give him a bone (Hold out cupped hands)
Then scoop him up and take him home! (Pretend to pick up and hug a small dog)
We ended up doing this rhyme four times through. I found that having the words written out where everyone can see them is really helpful. I will definitely be using this technique again.
After we got all calmed down and found our comfy story-listening spot once again, it was time for our second story. I Got a New Friend by Karl Newsom Edwards is also a 2017 book, with adorable illustrations and very few words per page, which makes it a storytime slam dunk. Before we started reading, I asked the kids to listen to the words, and then tell me at the end if they thought it was the little girl, or the puppy, telling the story. Two pages from the end I took a vote, and almost everyone raised their hand when I asked if it was the little girl. I won't spoil this one for you, because I want you to be delighted and surprised when you read I Got a New Friend and find out that it was the puppy speaking all along! (Oops.)
We did two short movement songs before saying goodbye: "Do the Dog" from Sesame Street, and the classic "Oh Where Has My Little Dog Gone."
"Do the Dog" is from 1994, aka MY era of Sesame Street. I encouraged the kids to follow along with the lyrics and act like dogs, with varried success. They were willing to put up their "paws," bark, howl, scratch, and turn around 3 times, but not so enthusiastic about the idea of getting on all fours and crawling around. I'm thinking that's more of a Toddler Time activity. On the CD recording, the "This Old Man" intro is not played.
The movements for "Oh Where Has My Little Dog Gone" are pretty straightforward as well. Pretend to look for your dog, then mime ears and a tale when the lyrics talk about them. The kids had fun with this one.
Since I had the time to plan a craft, we made out very own dog masks today! It was a very fun and easy craft with minimal prep. I simply printed the mask templates, pre-punched holes in the sides to make the parents' lives easier, then provided crayons, scissors, and time to create!
Here is the template I used. If you print it on a regular 8.5x11 piece of paper it's about the right size for a face.
And I wasn't able to get pictures of our littles in their masks because I was too busy having fun, but here is mine:
Here is a list of books about dogs that I displayed:
- I Got a New Friend—Edwards
- Found Dogs—Sirotich
- Shoe Dog—McDonald
- Black Dog—Pinfold
- Shark Dog!—Adamson
- Dog Day—Hayes
- Doggy Dog—Raschka
- Dog Parade—Joosse
- Dog Loves Drawing—Yates
- My Dog Spot—Levin
- Hello Goodbye Dog—Gianferrari
- The Dog Book—Clerci
A final note about the book Hello Goodbye Dog by Maria Gianferrari. I love, love, love this book about a girl in a wheelchair whose dog hates saying goodbye to her. Over the course of the book, the girl gets her dog certified as a service animal so he can stay with her all day at school, and they never have to say goodbye again. Not only is it the most adorable thing in the world, it's a great introduction for preschool age kids to service animals and wheelchair-related disabilities. Yay, diversity in children's literature!
