Learn and Grow with Rhythm and Flow: Rhythm Sticks

My Learn and Grow with Rhythm and Flow (LGRF) format is:

Hello
Warm Up Motor Skills
Heckity Peckity Bumble Bee
Movement Song
Pass Out Instruments
A Capella Instrument Rhyme
Movement Songs with Instruments
Collect instruments
Mellow Movement Song
Goodbye
Bubbles

Note: This post shows all the songs and chants I use when I run this program with rhythm sticks. I don't use every song and chant every time; that would make for a several-hour-long program and some very wiggly preschoolers!

Hello
"Hello, Hello"
Since LGRF is so high energy, I like to start the programs with a more mellow good morning song than other storytimes. I like this one because it has built-in movements and stretches.

Warming Up Motor Skills

"Open, Shut Them"
On this song we do the movements described in the lyrics: open our hands, close our hands, clap three times, put our hands in our lap, creep our fingers up to our chin, and don't let them in our mouths.

Heckity Peckity Bumble Bee

The "Heckity Peckity" chant is a great way to practice call-and-response, get to know our new friends by name, and practice counting the syllables of words.

Me and my bumblebee finger puppet

Heckity peckity bumblebee,

Won't you say your name for me?
Bzzzzz (Bee buzzes up to a child and asks their name. Let's say it's Harold.)
Everyone say Harold. (Group says name)
Can we whisper it? (whisper the name)
Can we do it on our legs? (Repeat name and pat thighs with each syllable)
Can we clap it? (Repeat name and clap with each syllable)
Now let's turn off our voice (Do a clicking motion with hand on throat and make clicking sound)
And let's just clap it (Group claps the syllables without speaking)
How many claps was that? (Group answers)
Harold's name is two claps! Who is next?

Movement Song

You could pretty much use any movement songs in this program, but there are several that I've noticed go over extra well when the kids are excited about puppets and instruments, and just need to shake their wiggles out. I usually go with one of these ten...

"Bob 'Til You Drop" by Greg and Steve

"It's Time to Stand Up" by Susan Salidor

"The Goldfish" by Laurie Berkner

"Can't Sit Still" by Greg and Steve

"Tooty Ta" by The Kiboomers

"The Freeze" by Greg and Steve

(weird video, but you can hear the song pretty well)

"Jumping and Counting" by Jim Gill

"Arms Up"

"Clap Your Hands"

"Hokey Pokey"

Pass Out Rhythm Sticks

When it's time to pass out the instruments, I tell the kids they must be sitting down calmly in order to get one. If they're extra wiggly, I might do a calming song like "Everybody Do This Just Like Me" or "Eyes are Watching, Ears are Listening," but this is only necessary about half the time. Once they see kids who are sitting down getting handed rhythm sticks or egg shakers, they get the idea and assume the position themselves. Also, since it's impossible to be handed a musical instrument and not make noise with it right away, I don't make them keep it quiet until everyone has theirs. 

A Capella Rhythm Stick Rhymes

"Little Clapping Mouse"
(each * is a time to clap or hit rhythm sticks together)

Behind the tree * *
And under the house * *
There lives a teeny * *
Tiny mouse * *
She loves to sing * *
She loves to tap * *
But most of all * *
She loves to clap * *
She claps all night * *
She claps all day * *
She claps to frighten * *
The cat away! * * * * * * * *

Jbrary does it with clapping, but this rhyme is also excellent with instruments.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"If You're Happy and You Know It"

If you're happy and you know it, tap your sticks *tap tap*

If you're happy and you know it, tap your sticks *tap tap*

If you're happy and you know it, and you really wanna show it,

If you're happy and you know it, tap your sticks *tap tap*

Repeat with...

If you're happy and you know it, rub your sticks *rub together*

If you're happy and you know it, hit the floor *hit hit*

If you're happy and you know it, do all three *tap tap, rub together, hit hit*

Try to get the whole room singing with you!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Rain on the Rooftop"

Rain on the rooftop

Rain on the tree

Rain on the green grass

But none on me!

Use rhythm sticks to make the beat. Hit the floor twice, then hit them together once. The rhythm is in 4/4 time. Using the first line as an example, if each beat has a number...

1-hit the floor (on "rain")

2-hit the floor (on "on")

3-hit sticks together (on "roof")

4-rest

This video will show you how the song goes, although it's not exactly the words I learned. It works as a song or a chant, depending on your level of comfort singing in front of people.

Movement Songs with Instruments

I can only keep the attention of a room full of preschoolers with musical instruments for so long, so this is the point in the program where I let recorded music do the majority of the work. I encourage the kids and grownups to dance and sing along, as well as follow the directed movements suggested in the lyrics. These songs are all fantastic for working with rhythm sticks, because they acknowledge the instruments and show the kids several different ways to use them.

"Tapping on My Sticks" by Kathy Reid-Naiman

"Lummi Stick Tap" by The Tumble Tots

"Point Your Lummi Sticks" by The Tumble Tots

Collect Rhythm Sticks

I don't try the "only those sitting down can put their instruments away" method for collecting... It does not work. By the end of the second song, they're either over using the instruments or so attached that they will sob if I try to take them away. For this reason, I simply encourage everyone to be good helpers and clean up all the instruments until they're all back in their bin. The prospect of helping me clean up is usually enough to get the clingers to relinquish their toys, especially when it's coupled with the promise that they'll get to play with them again next time.

Mellow Movement Song

The last thing I like to do before singing the goodbye song and having bubbles is one more movement song to help the littles re-compose themselves after the trauma of having to say goodbye to the toys. The best one I've found is Ella Jenkin's "Follow the Leader." 

Goodbye

"Until We Meet Again" from Out of the Box
Before singing this song, we learn a vocabulary word: clave. Clave is a type of rhythm used mostly in Afro-Cuban music, characterized by it's three-two beat. When I teach the word to preschool-age kids, I have them count to three, pause, and count to two, then do it again with clapping. The Out of the Box goodbye song uses a clave pattern, so after we learn what the word means, we practice clapping the clave pattern as we say goodbye to our friends.

Bubbles!
The last thing I do at every storytime is blow bubbles. The kids go crazy over them! I play the same songs every time so they get to know that after we say goodbye, we have bubbles for the duration of two songs, and then storytime is over until next time. Our regulars know this is the way it always goes, which is a great introduction to establishing routines in other aspects of life as they grow.
One Little, Two Little, Three Little Bubbles
Yo Gabba Gabba Bubbles Song

Learn and Grow with Rhythm and Flow: Egg Shakers

My Learn and Grow with Rhythm and Flow (LGRF) format is:

Hello
Warm Up Motor Skills
Heckity Peckity Bumble Bee
Movement Song
Pass Out Instruments
A Capella Instrument Rhyme
Movement Songs with Instruments
Collect instruments
Mellow Movement Song
Goodbye
Bubbles

Note: This post shows all the songs and chants I use when I run this program with egg shakers. I don't use every song and chant every time; that would make for a several-hour-long program and some very wiggly preschoolers!

Hello
"Hello, Hello"
Since LGRF is so high energy, I like to start the programs with a more mellow good morning song than other storytimes. I like this one because it has built-in movements and stretches.

Warming Up Motor Skills

"Open, Shut Them"
On this song we do the movements described in the lyrics: open our hands, close our hands, clap three times, put our hands in our lap, creep our fingers up to our chin, and don't let them in our mouths.

Heckity Peckity Bumble Bee

The "Heckity Peckity" chant is a great way to practice call-and-response, get to know our new friends by name, and practice counting the syllables of words. 

Me and my bumblebee finger puppet

Heckity peckity bumblebee,

Won't you say your name for me?
Bzzzzz (Bee buzzes up to a child and asks their name. Let's say it's Harold.)
Everyone say Harold. (Group says name)
Can we whisper it? (whisper the name)
Can we do it on our legs? (Repeat name and pat thighs with each syllable)
Can we clap it? (Repeat name and clap with each syllable)
Now let's turn off our voice (Do a clicking motion with hand on throat and make clicking sound)
And let's just clap it (Group claps the syllables without speaking)
How many claps was that? (Group answers)
Harold's name is two claps! Who is next?

Movement Song

You could pretty much use any movement songs in this program, but there are several that I've noticed go over extra well when the kids are excited about puppets and instruments, and just need to shake their wiggles out. I usually go with one of these ten...

"Bop 'Til You Drop" by Greg and Steve

"It's Time to Stand Up" by Susan Salidor

"The Goldfish" by Laurie Berkner

"Can't Sit Still" by Greg and Steve

"Tooty Ta" by The Kiboomers

"The Freeze" by Greg and Steve

(weird video, but you can hear the song pretty well)

"Jumping and Counting" by Jim Gill

"Arms Up"

"Clap Your Hands"

"Hokey Pokey"

Pass Out Egg Shakers

When it's time to pass out the instruments, I tell the kids they must be sitting down calmly in order to get one. If they're extra wiggly, I might do a calming song like "Everybody Do This Just Like Me" or "Eyes are Watching, Ears are Listening," but this is only necessary about half the time. Once they see kids who are sitting down getting handed rhythm sticks or egg shakers, they get the idea and assume the position themselves. Also, since it's impossible to be handed a musical instrument and not make noise with it right away, I don't make them keep it quiet until everyone has theirs. 

A Capella Egg Shaker Rhyme

"One, Two, Shake it on Your Shoe"

(To the rhythm of "One, Two, Buckle My Shoe")

One, two, shake it on your shoe (shake eggs near shoes)

Three, four, shake it on the floor (bend down and shake eggs near floor)

Five, six, stir and mix (pretend shakers are the spoon mixing in a large bowl)

Seven, eight, hold them up straight (hold shakers above your head)

Nine, ten, do it all again (shake eggs excitedly)

Movement Songs with Instruments

I can only keep the attention of a room full of preschoolers with musical instruments for so long, so this is the point in the program where I let recorded music do the majority of the work. I encourage the kids and grownups to dance and sing along, as well as follow the directed movements suggested in the lyrics. These songs are all fantastic for working with egg shakers because they acknowledge the instruments and show the kids several different ways to use them.

"Going to Kentucky" by Laurie Berkner

"Shake Your Sillies Out" by Raffi

"Milkshake" by Old Town School of Folk Music

"Shaky Shaky" by The Wiggles

Collect Egg Shakers

I don't try the "only those sitting down can put their instruments away" method for collecting... It does not work. By the end of the second song, they're either over using the instruments or so attached that they will sob if I try to take them away. For this reason, I simply encourage everyone to be good helpers and clean up all the instruments until they're all back in their bin. The prospect of helping me clean up is usually enough to get the clingers to relinquish their toys, especially when it's coupled with the promise that they'll get to play with them again next time.

Mellow Movement Song

The last thing I like to do before singing the goodbye song and having bubbles is one more movement song to help the littles re-compose themselves after the trauma of having to say goodbye to the toys. The best one I've found is Ella Jenkin's "Follow the Leader." 

Goodbye

"Until We Meet Again" from Out of the Box
Before singing this song, we learn a vocabulary word: clave. Clave is a type of rhythm used mostly in Afro-Cuban music, characterized by it's three-two beat. When I teach the word to preschool-age kids, I have them count to three, pause, and count to two, then do it again with clapping. The Out of the Box goodbye song uses a clave pattern, so after we learn what the word means, we practice clapping the clave pattern as we say goodbye to our friends.

Bubbles!
The last thing I do at every storytime is blow bubbles. The kids go crazy over them! I play the same songs every time so they get to know that after we say goodbye, we have bubbles for the duration of two songs, and then storytime is over until next time. Our regulars know this is the way it always goes, which is a great introduction to establishing routines in other aspects of life as they grow.
One Little, Two Little, Three Little Bubbles
Yo Gabba Gabba Bubbles Song

Learn & Grow With Rhythm & Flow 2-9-18

This morning, after saying hello to our friends with our regular introduction, I actually deviated from the usual Rhythm & Flow plan. For the first time since this program started I did not do the Heckity Peckity rhyme! I could say I wanted to put more variety into my storytime, but the truth is, I forgot my bumble bee finger puppet at my desk. It worked out okay, though, because with the passig out and collecting of rhythm sticks, we ended up just about on time.

After the intro, we sang the incomparable "Goldfish Song" because I could tell there were some extra wiggles in the room this morning. Before singing this song, I like to teach the kids the phrase, "Wait a minute, we're fish!" so they are ready when it comes up in the song.

At this point, I passed out a pair of rhythm sticks to each child. I like to tell them that I have two rules for rhythm sticks:
1. The only people who get sticks are the ones sitting calmly in one place.
2. Don't hit your friends.

They think it's hilarious when I make them repeat "Don't hit your friends" several times, but it's effective. They do not hit their friends. Actually, everyone was incredibly calm and respectful of the sticks today.

After everyone got their sticks, we learned a short rhyme. Along with it, we did a rhythm with our sticks. The X's show a place to hit the floor with your sticks, and the O's show a place to hit them together.

Rain on the rooftop
  X    X        O

Rain on the tree
  X    X        O

Rain on the green grass
  X    X        O

But none on me!
       X      X  O

This diagram is not exact, which is why it doesn't seem like an even rhythm... But it is, I promise. Two hits on the floor, and one tap of the sticks together. It's a simple pattern that kids find easy to follow, but that still does the job of waking up the music centers in their brains. In addition to tapping this rhythm with the rhyme, we turned off our voices and tapped it alone a few times. I think this really helped drive home the rhythm for the kids and grownups.

After our a cappella stick exercise, we practiced following directions while tapping to "Tapping on My Sticks."

After collecting the sticks, it was already time to say goodbye! My biggest tip for using any prop in storytime, from scarves to egg shakers to rhythm sticks, is to remember to build the time to pass out and collect the props into your storytime plan. With an especially large and/or wiggly group, it can take up to five full minutes just to make sure everyone has an egg shaker! In a 30 minute storytime, 5 minutes counts. This is valuable time that teaches preschool-age kids a lot about cooperation and being patient, so the time is not wasted. It's just something you need to account for so the program doesn't go overtime.

Preschool Storytime 1-30-18: Dragons and Monsters

Welcome to the last installment of my January of amazing themed Preschool Storytimes. Today we talked about dragons and monsters, because I found tons of good dragon books and monster songs, and only had one week left before I turn the preschoolers over to Sara for February. So, I decided to do both in one!

After our regular hello, our first book of the day was Dragons Rule, Princesses Drool by Courtney Pippin-Mathur. This book is totally hilarious; princesses invade the dragons' habitat and make everything flowery and glittery. Meanwhile the dragons are just trying to teach the princesses the law of the land, which is basically to breathe fire and burp loudly after every meal.

After the book, we did an action song to the Sesame Street classic, "Games Monsters Play." I like this one because it directs movement, so kids have to practice following directions while they're dancing.

Instead of a second action song, we did a rhyming chant together. I had it written out on the white board so everyone could read and follow along, including grownups. It's similar to "Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear," but it's "Dragon, Dragon."

Dragon, dragon, turn around.
Dragon, dragon, touch the ground.
Dragon, dragon, fly up high.
Dragon, dragon, float in the sky.
Dragon, dragon, shake your tail.
Dragon, dragon, show your nails.
Dragon, dragon, give a roar.
Dragon, dragon, sit on the floor.

This chant served the dual purpose of being another great directed movement exercise, and ending in a calm position on the floor so the kids were wound down enough to listen to our second story.

Monster Party by Annie Back is really cute and cleverly written all in rhyming verse. It also very realistically captures all the emotions attached to getting a party invitation, having a great time at the party, and being sad it's over before the cycle begins again with another invitation. The kids loved it.

Our final movement song before saying goodbye was "Ten Little Monsters." The gestures I do with this song is always counting on our fingers up to 10, and then back down to zero. It helps develop fine motor skills, and also helps younger preschoolers make the connection between the word for a number and how many that actually is.

After bubbles, we made a dragon breath craft; SUPER simple to prep and make. Simply punch a hole in the bottom of a green paper cup with a pen, and then tape or glue red streamers to the other side's opening. When you breathe through the bottom of the cup, it looks like your dragon snout is breathing fire!

Preschool Storytime 1-23-18: Names

The next installment in our exciting month of themed storytimes is the theme of names. Mostly, I wanted an excuse to read Chrysanthemum and make name trains. Plus, all kids love to hear their own names as much as possible.

After our regular hello, we learned the American Sign Language sign for "name." I encouraged the kids to practice the sign every time the word "name" came up in our first book.

Name

Our first story was Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes. I have always loved this story, and Henkes in general. This book is a little long to read to a large group so I ended up paper clipping the middle part of the story together so my preschool friends didn't get too wiggly. They were still a little restless, but they sat through the story with minimal disruptions and I think they enjoyed it.

After the story, I passed out egg shakers and we danced to "The Name Game." I chose to do this as a shaker song because in a 30 minute storytime, explaining and playing the name game with 40+ kids is an overwhelming concept. This way, they got to hear the song and enjoy as they played with their shakers. I also saw lots of parents singing along, so I hope that they taught their kids how to play the name game with their own names on the way home today.

Our second story was My Name is Elizabeth by Annika Dunklee. I like this book for preschoolers because it reminds them (or maybe introduced the concept) that we are all in charge of our own identity. The main character likes her name, Elizabeth, and not any shortened versions the people in her life use, like Liz or Betsy. Her preference is accepted by her friends and family, and by the end of the story they are all using her full name.

The next movement song was BINGO, a fun clapping song that everyone knows. Parents and kids sang and clapped along together, which was a fun way to get the energy level in the room back up after sitting for a story.

We said our regular goodbye, and then I passed out the materials to make our special name craft, name trains! This craft was so easy to prep for, and easy for the kids to put together as well. I printed and cut the trains beforehand, as well as making lots of 2-inch squares in different colors. Then it's just a matter of gluing the squares and trains to a larger piece of construction paper and writing the child's name. Some of our ready-for-kindergarten kiddos even wrote their own names, which was so great to see. (Note: All parents gave permission for these pictures to appear online)

Selfie culture: I asked her for a picture and she came over
next to me, waiting for me to turn the camera around.

Books displayed:

• My Father Knows the Names of Things—Yolen 
• From Anne to Zach—Martin 
• My Name is Elizabeth!—Dunklee 
• Chrysanthemum—Henkes 
• Princess Baby—Katz 
• Hello, My Name is Octicorn—Diller 
• Thunder Boy Jr.—Alexie 
• Write On, Carlos!—Murphy 
• Penny and Her Doll—Henkes 
• Jessica—Henkes 
• Wabi Sabi—Reibstein 
• On the Road—Nolan 
• Kuma-Kuma Chan, the Little Bear—Takahashi 
• Santa’s Book of Names—McPhail 
• The Cat with Seven Names—Johnston 
• Phoebe Sounds It Out—Zwillich

Learn and Grow with Rhythm and Flow 1-12-18

If you recall, the last time I did this program we had some major tech issues and my beloved tiny blue iPod kicked the bucket. Luckily, I used the break from storytime to order a new-to-me iPod that I will keep at work and use for all my storytimes. Say hello to ADMIN'S IPO! (I haven't picked out a name for him yet, this is just what shows up when I plug him into the computer.)

After our regular introduction, we did the "Heckity Peckity" chant and counted the syllables in our names. I use a little bumblebee finger puppet when we do this, like she uses in the second video below. Before we start, I tell the kids my friend Bumble Bee really wants to meet each of them, but he's really shy, and he will only ask their names if we all say this rhyme together. Then, after we all say the first two lines, he buzzes up to children and asks them what their name is.

Heckity peckity bumblebee,
Won't you say your name for me?
Bzzzzz (Bee buzzes up to a child and asks their name. Let's say it's Harold.)
Everyone say Harold. (Group says name)
Can we whisper it? (whisper the name)
Can we do it on our legs? (Repeat name and pat thighs with each syllable)
Can we clap it? (Repeat name and clap with each syllable)
Now let's turn off our voice (Do a clicking motion with hand on throat and make clicking sound)
And let's just clap it (Group claps the syllables without speaking)
How many claps was that? (Group answers)
Harold's name is two claps! Who is next?

Our movement song today was "It's Time to Stand Up" by Susan Salidor. It might be my imagination, but I think today's group of kids had an extra amount of silly fun with this song.

Because this song is so exciting, I found it necessary to do a chant to calm down. I used my favorite "Hippo on the Bus," because it is really fun and hilarious, but you can do it as many times as necessary to get the kids back to listening status.

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)

While passing out rhythm sticks, I made sure the kids knew that I would only be handing a pair to children who were sitting calmly on the floor, and those who loudly repeated my one and only rhythm stick rule: "Don't Hit Your Friends!" Kids and parents alike find this rule giggle-worthy, but it's also very seriously my only rhythm stick rule.

I gave them a minute to hit them on their own, then lead the group in hitting out sticks slowly, quickly, loudly, quietly, and rubbing them together to create a new sound. Then we did two songs with the sticks: "Tapping On My Sticks" and "Lummi Stick Tap." For that one, I always teach the word "lummi," what they call rhythm sticks in the UK, so the kids aren't confused when they hear that word in the song. 

Finally, it was time to give the sticks back and say goodbye to all our friends!

Learn & Grow with Rhythm & Flow 12-22-17: Special Guest and Hanukkah Presentation

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." 

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

Learn & Grow with Rhythm & Flow 12-8-17

This morning, I was planning to do a program similar to the last time we used rhythm sticks in Rhythm & Flow. I got my lesson plan together, made the playlist on my iPod, and was just about to set up the sound system when I noticed my iPod's screen was blank no matter how many buttons I pushed. Of course it was about 5 minutes before storytime was supposed to begin and there were already some kiddos and parents in the room. I ran to the back of the library and plugged it into my computer, where it was not recognized as a device in iTunes. The computer didn't even register that anything was plugged in! After a minute, I realized that this iPod is completely dead and will not be coming back to life. It has served me well for about nine years, so RIP Tiny Blue Guy.

Thinking fast, I connected a laptop to the room's central sound system and pulled up my Google Drive, where I have a lot (but not all) or my storytime music stored. Instead of using my usual rhythm and music introduction we said hello with the Preschool Storytime introduction, which you can view here. Then we did the "Heckity Peckity" chant and counted the syllables in our names. Today we had three children with two-syllable names, and two children with three-syllable names.

Heckity peckity bumblebee,
Won't you say your name for me?
Bzzzzz (Bee buzzes up to a child and asks their name. Let's say it's Harold.)
Everyone say Harold. (Group says name)
Can we whisper it? (whisper the name)
Can we do it on our legs? (Repeat name and pat thighs with each syllable)
Can we clap it? (Repeat name and clap with each syllable)
Now let's turn off our voice (Do a clicking motion with hand on throat and make clicking sound)
And let's just clap it (Group claps the syllables without speaking)
How many claps was that? (Group answers)
Harold's name is two claps! Who is next?

Next, we danced with semi-directed movement to "Can't Sit Still" by Greg and Steve.

I didn't have time to write the "Little Clapping Mouse" chant out on the white board today, so we skipped it and went right on to passing out rhythm sticks.

After everyone had promised not to hit their friends with the sticks and each child had a pair, we sang an a capella rhythm stick version of "Happy and You Know It." Each verse below is the full, usual verse of the song with the clapping, stomping, and hooray-ing substituted with the following words:

If you're happy and you know it, tap your sticks (*tap tap*)
If you're happy and you know it, rub your sticks (rub them to make scraping noise *rub rub*)
If you're happy and you know it, hit the floor (*hit hit*)
If you're happy and you know it, do all three (*tap tap, rub rub, hit hit*)

Next we listened to "Tapping on My Sticks," a good song to listen to with rhythm sticks because it directs the listener to tap their sticks slowly, quickly, loudly, quietly, in the air, and on the floor.

After that, it was already time to say goodbye! Instead of the regular bubble songs, I had to use Mr. Jon's "Happy and You Know It" as bubble background music.

Even with my tech issues this morning, I had several parents make sure to tell me how much their kids enjoyed the session, so I feel like it went well. We will be taking a break from storytimes for the last two weeks in December, so hopefully I'll be able to get a new iPod before the new year!

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. 

Preschool Storytime 11-21-17: Puddles the Raindrop

We had a special guest at Preschool Storytime today, the author of the self-published Puddles the Raindrop series!

Louise Gabriel has published three adventures of Puddles the Raindrop so far, and has plans for a lot more. They are nonfiction workbooks coupled with the story of Puddles as he travels through the stages of the water cycle. 

As a lot of guest presenters do, Louise asked me to kick off the storytime the way I usually do so the kids have the same structure they are used to. So I did my three-song introduction, which you can view in full here. When I was done, Louise read her Arizona story, Puddles the Raindrop Explores the Grand Canyon State, Arizona. 

In the book, there is an illustration of the water cycle that I recreated out of felt and put up on our giant felt board. So after she was done reading the story, we went over the stages of the water cycle with the kids, moving our little felt Puddles as we talked about each one. 

I made this!

Finally, we passed out a coloring sheet and put crayons out, and gave the kids about 10 minutes to color. The sheet was in the theme also: a rainy desert scene. 

At the end, we sang our goodbye song and had the ritual bubbles. Then Louise stuck around to speak to parents about her book series, sell copies of her book and Puddles plushies, and take pictures with/of me:

Me, Louise, and Puddles

Me and Puddles in front of the water cycle

Having guest presenters in storytime can be fun if they are comfortable in front of large groups of children, skilled at public speaking (loudly) and controlling a crowd, and not afraid to get a little silly with us. You would be surprised how many people, even children's book authors, do not possess even one of those three qualities. Luckily, Louise was an excellent storytime guest. We had a lot of fun, and might even have her back when her next Puddles adventure is published!

Spooky Singalong

This program was the brainchild of my wonderful and talented partner in crime, the other youth services librarian at my branch, Sara. She conceived, named, and planned this whole thing. Hopefully she will have her own librarian blog soon so that I can link to her entry about Spooky Singalong and give her all the recognition for this incredible event. Until then, here is my take as one of the staff members who helped set up and run it......

First of all, I will not be writing up our actual Halloween storytime and parade because I didn't get enough pictures of our super cute tiny patrons in their costumes, nor did I get permission from any of their parents to share those pictures in a public forum such as a blog. So here is a picture of me, Sara, and our temporary (she is getting a promotion!) third youth services librarian Nicole on Halloween day. I am a unicorn, Sara is a dinosaur, and Nicole is the human embodiment of the spirit of Halloween itself. 

Now, for the Spooky Singalong program. We did a Disney Karaoke program during Summer Reading, which was an awesome success with almost 100 people coming to sing iconic Disney songs and dressing up as their favorite character. So for Halloween, we had a similar program with some troubleshooting that we learned from the Disney event. 

First of all, most of the participants at a weekday program are not yet in kindergarten, so they are not fluent readers. Instead of playing actual karaoke tracks with words on the screen but no vocal track, we played songs with vocals intact. Second, instead of have children sign up to sing one by one (like karaoke in the real world), we structured this program as a storytime/karaoke hybrid and called it a singalong!

The prep for this program was insanely easy. Sara found a great playlist of preschool Halloween songs with animated videos, and we projected it on the wall of our programming space. There were rows of chairs set up, but everyone was encouraged to get up and dance around as we sang. 

In addition to their Halloween costumes, which most of them wore because tomorrow is Halloween, there was a craft station set up where kids could cut out and decorate their very own cardstock "monster feet." Sara printed the templates onto cardstock a couple of days ago, but we did not cut them out ahead of time; manipulating scissors helps develop fine motor skills! (Plus, less craft prep). After the feet were cut out, there were art supplies available to decorate them.

Here is a video that is 30 minutes long, and almost the exact same as the playlist we used. All the music played for the Spooky Singalong were from Super Simple Songs, which I know I've shown on this blog before in my storytime entries. 

One song that we did use for the Spooky Singalong that is not in the compilation above was the Halloween version of Baby Shark. I couldn't not include it in this entry, so here it is separately:

Learn & Grow with Rhythm & Flow 10-20-17

Hello again!

After our usual introduction, we clapped the syllables of individual children's names using the "Heckity Peckity" chant.

Heckity peckity bumblebee,
Won't you say your name for me?
Bzzzzz (Bee buzzes up to a child and asks their name. Let's say it's Harold.)
Everyone say Harold. (Group says name)
Can we whisper it? (whisper the name)
Can we do it on our legs? (Repeat name and pat thighs with each syllable)
Can we clap it? (Repeat name and clap with each syllable)
Now let's turn off our voice (Do a clicking motion with hand on throat and make clicking sound)
And let's just clap it (Group claps the syllables without speaking)
How many claps was that? (Group answers)
Harold's name is two claps! Who is next?

Our movement song today was "Bop 'til You Drop" by Greg and Steve. Here are some funny tweens dancing to it:

Then we did our "Little Clapping Mouse" clapping rhyme. I like to have the words written out on the white board so that grownups, and any of the kids who know how to read, can follow along with me the first time I chant it. I do this one at least twice, and usually all the kids catch on to the words and when to clap (each asterisk is a clap below) by the second time through. 

Behind the tree * *
And under the house * *
There lives a teeny * *
Tiny mouse * *
She loves to sing * *
She loves to tap * *
But most of all * *
She loves to clap * *
She claps all night * *
She claps all day * *
She claps to frighten * *
The cat away! * * * * * * * *

And here is a video of the chant, courtesy of Jbrary.

Next it was time for instruments! I used egg shakers again, which are great little maraca-like instruments perfect for little hands to hold onto. 

After passing them out and giving the kids a minute or two to shake on their own, we did an a capella rhyme in the vein of "1 2 Buckle My Shoe."

1, 2, shake it on your shoe

3, 4, shake it on the floor

5, 6, stir and mix

7, 8, hold it up straight

9, 10, wave to your friend

This rhyme gives them a chance to see everything you can do with the shakers besides simply shake them. You can mime a lot of different activities like stirring with a bowl and spoon or waving to a friend with a shaker in your hand, and it makes a different rhythm with every movement. 

We listened to two recorded songs while dancing with our shakers. First was everyone's favorite egg shaker song, "I Know a Chicken" by Laurie Berkner. Then I played Raffi's "Shake my Sillies Out," because Raffi is the god of children's music and everyone knows it. 

I got all my egg shakers back in a somewhat orderly fashion, and then we sang our goodbye song and had bubbles. Click here for my rhythm and music storytime closers.