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 7-20-17

Hello again, and welcome to another Preschool Storytime post!

We have been doing a lot of themed storytimes lately, and today's theme was supposed to be robots, but I had trouble finding anything to go with that theme except the "I Am a Robot" song (which we did actually dance to today). I figured rather than put on a subpar storytime that stuck with a difficult theme, I would put on a GREAT storytime without a theme. 

So our first story today was I Am Tall by Flying Frog. This is a lift-the-flap book I like because at the end, you have to physically turn the book sideways in order to reveal the tall giraffe. It's also a fun book of opposites, and the preschoolers have fun calling them out. I like to prompt them by saying things like, "If the bird is small, then the giraffe is..." and they almost always catch on right away. 

Our first movement song of the day was "Clap Your Hands," which I got on a burned CD from a previous library and haven't been able to find another downloadable version of since. Some children's songs are illusive like that (and like the Out of the Box goodbye song), and I'm glad I kept my version because it's a great movement song that keeps the kiddos engaged. I like to start it out by asking if they know how to clap their hands, stomp their feet, brush their teeth (that always gets a laugh), and touch their nose. They always respond that they do, and show me how they do it. My answer before pressing play is, "Well then, you guys will do great at this next song!" I've found a short introduction like this to movement songs makes them more interested to see what is about to happen.

This is the version of "Clap Your Hands" that I use. 

Next we danced to "Arms Up," a simple and slightly mellower tune which is also impossible to find on the internet without knowing who sings it. 

Click here to listen to the version of "Arms Up" that I use.

Our second story was Grumpy Bird by Jeremy Tankard. I love, love, LOVE this book. It is so funny, and formulaic enough that the kids can follow along almost immediately, without ever becoming boring. 

 

One thing I like to do with this book is teach the kids the sign for "grumpy" before we start reading. Then every time the bird declares that he's grumpy, we practice the sign while making our grumpiest faces.

angry/grumpy

Our last movement song was the fun, fast, and silly "I Am A Robot." Even though the kids (and me, most of the time) have a hard time following all the directions quickly enough, we all have fun doing our best robot dance and powering down at the end. 

After that, we said goodbye to all our friends until next week, and ended with the bubble-filled baby mosh pit that pretty much the best part of my day.