This past Tuesday evening we had a program at our library that was filled with sweet stories, activities and fun! Here are the stories we read;
Little Mouse and the Big Cupcake
by Thomas Taylor
When Little Mouse finds a delicious cupcake, all his friends ask if they can have a taste. And Little Mouse, being a very kind mouse, says yes to each one of them. But will there be any left for Little Mouse once all his friends have taken a bite?
Who Made This Cake?
by Chihir Nakagawa
Imagine a birthday cake like no other. What if the people you order your next birthday cake from are tiny, and what if they build cakes the way we build buildings? Tractor-trailers and giant cranes, catwalks, and helicopters. Hundreds of workers. Never have you seen such a construction site!
Piggies in the Kitchen
by Michelle Meadows
When Mama leaves for the day, her piggies have big plans. Sneaking into the kitchen to bake some treats, they make quite a mess—but it’s all for a very special surprise party!
We also had fun playing the following games;
Marshmallow Swap
What you will need:
straws
marshmallows
plates
cups
Place the same amount of marshmallows on each child's plate. When you say go, they have to move the marshmallows from the plate to the cup by sucking them to the straw and dropping them into the cup. While many of my group found this difficult they enjoyed trying and all made a great effort to complete the task. Perhaps mini marshmallows would work better and prove to make the game easier.
Don't Break My Heart
What you will need:
clothes pins
tissue paper hearts
Give each child a clothes pin and have them sit in a circle. I clipped my clothes pin onto the tissue paper heart and then passed it to the child on my right. The idea is to pass the heart around the whole group using only the clothes pin, no hands, without breaking it. To make the game more difficult, the leader could call out different commands such as, "Stop! Go left!" "Stop! Go right!" "Pass across!" "Pass behind!" This is a fun and very easy game.
Craft: Sock Cakes
Ingredients:
one pair of fuzzy socks (I got mine at the Dollar Store!)
Tootsie Pops
Cupcake liners
cellophane
ribbon
Give each child a pair of socks, a tootsie pop and a cupcake liner. Start by having the children roll up their pair of socks. Instruct them to begin rolling at the toe and be sure to keep the bottom flat (so that the cupcake stands upright). Once they are finished rolling, use a rubber band to secure the rolled socks. Place the sock cake into a paper cupcake liner and insert Tootsie Pop in the center. Voila! You are done! You can dress up your sock cake by wrapping it in cellophane and adding ribbon. A treat to warm your feet! The perfect gift - a calorie free cupcake!
Yesterday was our third Family Storytime session and I'm happy to say that we are all getting into the swing of things. It makes me so happy to see the children smiling and dancing along to my songs and fingerplays. I feel that a good storytime needs to have right mix of repetition and new material. Children need repetition at this age, therefore I only introduce a few new songs each week. I post all song lyrics here so that parents and caregivers can reference the words. It makes a huge difference when the parents and caregivers sing along. With that said, here are some of the songs and stories that we shared this week;
Say Hello To Your Toes
(to the tune of London Bridge)
Say hello to your toes.
Hello toes, hello toes.
Say hello to your toes.
Hello, toes!
Say hello to your ankles.
Hello ankles, hello ankles.
Say hello to your ankles.
Hello, ankles!
Say hello to your knees.
Hello knees, hello knees.
Say hello to your knees.
Hello, knees!
Say hello to your hands.
Hello hands, hello hands.
Say hello to your hands.
Hello, hands!
Say hello to your friends.
Hello friends, hello friends.
Say hello to your friends.
Hello, friends!
We're So Glad to See You
(to the tune of Frere Jacques)
Where is {insert child's name}?
Where is {insert child's name}?
There s/he is.
There s/he is.
We're so glad to see you.
We're so glad to see you.
Peek-a-boo!
Peek-a-boo!
If You're Ready For a Story
(to the tune of If You're Happy And You Know It)
If you're ready for a story take a seat.
If you're ready for a story take a seat.
Clap your hands and stop your feet,
now make them nice and neat.
If you're ready for a story take a seat.
Books we read...
Owl Babies by Martin Waddell
I found this wonderful telling of this story on youtube...
Do Monkeys Tweet?by Melanie Walsh
5 Little Apples
(done with flannel glove puppet)
5 little apples sitting in a bowl,
one fell out and started to roll.
It bumped off the table and hit my feet.
How many apples are left to eat?
(count down to 0)
Next we got out the shakers and had some noisy fun singing and dancing to the following songs;
The Grand Old Duke of York
The Grand Old Duke of York,
he had ten thousand men.
He marched them up to the top of the hill,
and then he marched them down again.
When they were up they were up,
and when they were down they were down.
But when they were only half way up,
they were neither up nor down.
Going To Kentucky
We're going to Kentucky,
we're going to the fair.
To see the senoritas
with flowers in their hair.
So shake it baby, shake it.
Shake it all you can.
Shake it like a milkshake,
and pour it in the can.
Rumba to the bottom.
Rumba to the top.
Turn around and turn around,
until we holler STOP!
Caution: the above two songs will get stuck in your head and you may find yourself humming them without even being aware of it!
Sorry for the late post, it's been a busy week (and it's only Thursday!). Here are just a few of the books, songs and fingerplays that we did at Family Storytime this week.
Books:
Kanga wants to make cookies, but someone has eaten all the cookie dough.Who could it be? Join in the fun and find out! This rollicking whodunit begs to be read aloud.
What will Fat Cat sit on? The pig? (Oink!) The chicken? (Cluck!) How about the dog? (Grrrr.) Everyone in this bumbling animal gang (understandably) hopes the victim will be someone else! Leave it to Mouse to come up with a brilliant solution that satisfies everyone, even Fat Cat himself. Filled with hilarious asides and an interactive question-answer format, this irreverent young picture book will delight toddlers who love to shout "NO!"
Fingerplays & Songs:
Autumn Leaves
(Tune: Mary Had a Little Lamb)
Autumn leaves are falling down,
falling down, falling down.
Autumn leaves are falling down,
falling on the ground.
Autumn leaves are whirling round,
whirling round, whirling round.
Autumn leaves are whirling round,
all over town.
I wish you all a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend surrounded by family and friends. I look forward to seeing everyone next Tuesday morning. Until then, happy reading!
My goodness! I cannot believe I forgot to add the monkey song to my previous post. We had so much fun singing it and doing the actions in Family Storytime! Silly me... I must be bananas to have forgotten to include it. To make up for my memory lapse, I have also included a cute printable that you can download, print and use at home. Your little ones will love acting out this song with these cheeky monkeys. Watch out for that crocodile!
Five Little Monkeys Swinging in a Tree
Five little monkeys swinging in the tree,
teasing Mr. Crocodile,
“You can’t catch me!”
Along came Mr. Crocodile as quiet as can be and…
Snap!
Four little monkeys swinging in the tree…
Three little monkeys swinging in the tree…
Two little monkeys swinging in the tree…
One little monkey swinging in the tree,
teasing Mr. Crocodile,
“You can’t catch me!”
Along came Mr. Crocodile as quiet as can be and…
Snap!
“You missed me! You missed me!”
Download the free printable to use at home by clicking here!
(thanks Kate from Pickelebum's!)
Once you have your monkeys you can also use them with this song...
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