Wednesday Story Time

At my library, I do two story times on Wednesdays - a baby time and a toddler time. Each week, I try to select a few finger plays and three books that match whatever theme we're focusing on. This week's theme is  Weather.
 


Cloudette by Tom Lichtenheld

While I find Cloudette to be adorable, the kids did not have much of a reaction to her. The illustrations in this book are very happy, happy and I really think the story is one every child should hear about not letting self doubt get in the way of making a positive impact. 



Hello, Sun by Dayle Ann Dodds

Hello, Sun! is a great story for talking about weather. It covers most of the major ones like snow, rain and wind not that my Arizona kids would recognize any of those :) We talked about appropriate attire for the weather situations, as well.



Snow Happy by Patricia Hubbell

We read this one while I handed out FX snow (more on this in a later post). Most of the kids had never seen snow before and couldn't name many of the activities in this book though they did know a pretty decent amount about snowmen!

Toys in Storytime

As I discussed in my Dealing With Large Groups post a few days ago, I like to present the children in our baby time with toys to play with while we read so that they have something to occupy their hands with if they aren't in the mood to focus on a story.

 Most of our toys are from Lakeshore Learning. The balls in the center are fabric while the blocks on the side are plush, vinyl-type material.

We all sit down on the cushions and the kids are invited to sit in laps or wander around on the parachute, building structures or playing catch.

At the end or when they've demonstrated that they've had enough of my voice :), we play with the parachute. We put the balls in the center or let the children run underneath. We teach them words like "fast" and "slow" and just participate in free play until storytime is over.

What toys do you supply in your storytimes?

Wednesday Story Time

Whoops. This one is coming to you a day late - Wednesday just got away from me!

At my library, I do two story times on Wednesdays - a baby time and a toddler time. Each week, I try to select a few finger plays and three books that match whatever theme we're focusing on. This week's theme is  Monsters.



Leonardo the Terrible Monster by Mo Willems

While a few of my kids seemed concerned when I told them the theme this week, Leonardo convinced them that monsters could be fun. The parents and the kids both got a kick out of Sam's long winded explanation for his tears, too!
 


Go Away, Big Green Monster! by Ed Emberley

 
A definite monster classic, the kids at my storytimee had a good time shouting out what color the body part was when I prompted them and, when I switched it up, what body part was what color. This book leaves so many opportunities for interactive story telling - I really love it.

Monster Hug! by David Ezra Stein

Though this book doesn't have a lot of dialogue, it has some fantastic images. We searched the images for certain object and also use the book to talk about numbers and colors. Our group was a bit older than this book was probably written for so asking these questions helped me age up my storytime.

Dealing With Large Groups

In my last storytime wrap up, I asked for tips of what you do to help wrangle in some of the larger, wilder storytime groups. After looking around and picking the brains of some of my colleagues, I've come up with some suggestions for those of you who are at a loss.

Create a storytime atmosphere that is more condusive to a presentation or show than a circle time.
Some storytellers use PowerPoint presentations (something I'll be posting about later this week) while others set up mini stages for themselves. The use of these props sets the tone that those in attendance are an audience. While it changes the dynamic of the program, the use of a microphone (if needed) or other "unconventional" storytime equipment can help to make sure that every one in attendance has the option to pay attention over the noise of a large group.

Provide toys to play with throughout the program.
For my baby time, I lay out a parachute and then place soft blocks, balls and other toys on it. The kids are free to crawl around and play with them while we sing, read and learn. This time spent interacting with other children and their parents is still important to their devlopment.

Adapt your program.
If you realize that the storytime has gotten out of hand and you've lost their attention, fall back on prepared free-for-all activities or games instead. This can stifle any fussiness and, again, encourages interaction with other children.

Two Cool Coyotes Glasses Craft

At our storytime this week, we read Two Cool Coyotes by Jillian Lund and I thought it would be adorable if all the kids got to wear cool shades like Frank and Angelina do in the book!

To start, I printed and cut out a template. From there, I traced that template onto a few different colors of cardstock.

Then, I cut out the eyeholes. A handy tip for cutting out those islands is to punch a hole first. From there, place your scissors ina and work your way out.

When I had them all cut out, I attached pipecleaners for the arms of the glasses. This way, they are slightly adjustable for different sized heads.

And that's it! A very simple craft that's a lot of fun to play dress up with :) 

Wednesday Story Time

At my library, I do two story times on Wednesdays - a baby time and a toddler time. Each week, I try to select a few finger plays and three books that match whatever theme we're focusing on. This week's theme is Arizona Centennial.



Two Cool Coyotes by Jillian Lund

 Our storytimes have started to become massive due to the kickoff of our Summer Reading Program. I thought this would be a big hit but the width of the book made it hard to keep a hold of (the things you realize as a story teller!) and, either way, the kids just weren't too into it.

Desert Night Desert Day by Anthony Fredricks

The kids were very receptive to this story. They had fun pointing out the quail that makes an appearance on almost every page as well as the other desert flora and fauna. The illustrations in this book are really beautiful and the rhyming is enjoyable for all ages.

Don't Call Me Pig! by Conrad Storad



Another bust. I thought they would like how sassy the main character is but I think it went over their heads. I skipped quite a few of the pages for a quick finish and then substituted in No, David! which I made interactive by letting the kids shout "No David!" and explaining what his bad behavior was on each page.

Any tips for large storytime groups? What do you do when it seems like your program has devolved into utter chaos?

Children's Programming Opinion Survey

If you're a caregiver who has attended one of my programs, I would love to hear from you! I'm always eager to change our old programs or implement new ones to best suit our families.

To fill out the survey, simply click on the link:

Children's Programming Opinion Survey.

Thank you!

Bryan Kilgore Summer Reading Program

We have a local celebrity around town, Bryan Kilgore, who is a talented artist and great with kids! He worked with our tweens to create some stellar pieces of one-of-a-kind art last week. If he's ever near you, his program is definitely worth taking the kids to!


Here are some pictures from our session:


The setup for our drawing class.



The kids working hard on their masterpieces.




An example of what Bryan helped the children create.



Bryan using the projector to present to a large audience of future artists.



Completed works of art!





Literacy Skills: Print Motivation, Letter Knowledge and Print Awareness

This post will be part one of my discussion on literacy skills. Today, we'll cover the last three after we covered the first three yesterday.

Print Motivation:
What is it?
Children who have print motivation like being read to and enjoy books. They may also pretend to write, ask to be read to and enjoy trips to get new books.
How can you help?
One of the simplest ways to encourage this literacy skill is to make reading time a special time through music, activities or a special spot. Make sure that books are easy for children to access and show them that you, too, enjoy reading. It also helps to make examples of reading and writing in everyday life to demonstrate how important it is.

Letter Knowledge:
What is it?
Knowing that letters have different names and different sounds is the foundation of letter knowledge. During storytime, we practice letter knowledge with the letter of the day.
How can you help?
Reading and writing activities can both help with letter knowledge. Pointing out and naming the letters in various applications including books or signs will also increase your child's letter knowledge. For younger kids, drawing the letters or talking about shapes will help them.

Print Awareness:
What is it?
Print awareness teaches children the rules of English such as the directions that we read in (top to bottom, left to right). Being able to point to words on the page on command is an example of print awareness.
How can you help?
Asking your child to point out and discuss the words in books or on signs is a great way to work on print awareness. This will also be a game they are familiar with from when they accomplished letter knowledge.