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 Colors.

Dog's Colorful Day by Emma Dodd

Dog's Colorful Day is perfect for a colors story time. I've seen some great felt boards accompany this story but have yet to create my own. The kids really enjoyed showing me which spot was new and counting up to 10. This was a really interactive one for them which I think everyone enjoys.


I Ain't Gonna Paint No More! by Karen Beaumont

Yet another Karen Beaumont book makes an appearance at my story time, I can't help myself! I asked the kids to point to the body part that the narrator had just painted as a way to engage them. The parents also really liked the language in this one.



My Many Colored Day by Dr. Seuss

This is an extremely colorful book that would also be excellent for an emotions/feelings themed story time. I turned this into a sort of activity book, as well. I had them flap their wings like birds, buzz like bees and show me which color was their favorite. This really helped make the story individualized, too.

Lemons Are Not Red by Laura Vaccaro Seeger

I really thought this would appeal to all ages but it seems like the older kids were the ones who really got it. This book has fantastically vibrant colors on the pages that I thought would attract the babies but this morning they were in a mood that lent itself better to activities and songs than books and that's okay! The older kids had a great time telling me what color the objects actually were and shouting out the color on the pages as we went along.

For the kids who just could not seem to shake their wiggles this week, I pulled out my no mess paint bags. 

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 All About Me.

We started with our letter of the day, M. The kids accurately told me that "Momma", "Mug" and "Monkey" started with M.
After a frantic rush to find new books because I decided I didn't like the previous titles just hours before story time was to start, I selected the following.



You're Finally Here! by Mélanie Watt

After doing our warm ups, I wanted to start with this book because it's high energy and fun. It also allows for a decent amount of audience participation which I try to encourage! The kids seemed to like this one all right but didn't really get as excited as I was :)



Me and You by Janet A. Holmes and Judith Rossell

This is a sweet, but not saccharine, book about all the things one can do and how it's always more fun when friends are involved. Since this was another bunny book (accidental!), I let the kids demonstrate their hopping and they really enjoyed that. I think the parents liked this one because it has a cute message.


I Like Myself! by Karen Beaumont

Karen Beaumont's stories are some of my favorites and this is no exception. The little girl is so full of energy and self confidence, it seemed like the perfect way to end our story times. Everyone liked this one for the great illustrations. it got a lot of interaction from the kids with them shouting out things like, "I can do that!".

Our fingerplays this week were a rousing rendition of Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes and Ten Little Fingers. We also used the Song Cube which I'll be writing a post about later this week. (UPDATE: Read the Song Cube blog post here. )