Story Window Storytime Blog: October 2006
Peek inside for storytime ideas! Wilmette Librarians share suggestions for age-appropriate books, rhymes, songs, and crafts.
October 27, 2006
Poetry in storytime
(For 3.5-5 Year Olds)
We introduce children to poetry in storytime by using nursery rhymes, fingerplays, and stories written in verse. It's painless-- doesn't hurt a bit!! They don't even realize they're being exposed to it!
This week, I included an easy poem in our storytime craft; its entitled, "Plump Pumpkin" by Douglas Florian, from his book "Autumnlings." Florian writes wonderful children's poetry, and his seasonal series of books is a treasure. In addition to his autumn book, there are also Winter Eyes, Handsprings, and "Summersaults." The poem includes an amusing play on the word, "orange," which both adults and children could enjoy.
Plump orange pumpkin.
Plump orange cat.
Plump orange full moon--
Orange you fat!
Posted by Kathleen at 4:14 PM
October 26, 2006
Halloween Storytime
(For 2.5-3.5 Year Olds)
Everyone has a jack o'lantern, and everyone has a costume. We're ready for Halloween! This week's picture books:
- Moonlight: The Halloween Cat, by Cynthia Rylant, illustrated by Melissa Sweet. A quiet book with beautiful, bright pictures about a cat taking a stroll on Halloween night.
- 10 Trick-or-Treaters: A Halloween Counting Book, by Janet Schulman, illustrated by Linda Davick. Count down as the trick-or-treaters run off, one by one. This book is good for practicing numeral recognition.
- Jungle Halloween, by Maryann Cocca-Leffler. The "funnest" of the bunch! A rollicking, rhyming account of some jungle animals' Halloween party. There are lots of fun details to pick out in the illustrations.
We repeated our pumpkin counting and action rhymes from last week, along with "Two Little Blackbirds", "The Itsy Bitsy Spider", and "Spider on the Floor." Repetition is good! The kids like the familiarity and the sense of accomplishment they have when they, too, can do a song or rhyme perfectly!
Next week: fall!
Posted by Lisa at 3:25 PM
HALLOWEEN ACTION RHYME
(Songs & Fingerplays)
Children in a storytime for 3 1/2 to 5 year olds enjoyed this Halloween fingerplay:
PUMPKIN, PUMPKIN SITTING ON A WALL.
PUMPKIN, PUMPKIN TIP & FALL.
PUMPKIN, PUMPKIN ROLLING DOWN THE STREET
PUMPKIN, PUMPKIN--"TRICK OR TREAT!"
Do these motions while saying the rhyme:
Make a fist with one hand; this is the pumpkin.
Extend other arm to create a wall, place pumpkin on wall.
Rock pumpkin back & forth; let pumpkin fall to floor.
Roll both forearms over each other-faster & faster.
Throw arms up in the air, and shout "TRICK OR TREAT!"
Children liked the rolling pumpkin and shouting "Trick or Treat!"
Posted by Kathleen at 9:54 AM
October 23, 2006
Fall Leaves
(For 1.5-2.5 Year Olds)
We began storytime by discussing the various colors of the fall leaves. The children made a waving motion to show how the leaves fall to the ground. Jumping in the leaves is their favorite leaf activity. Fall Leaves Fall by Hall is a cute exploration of the beauty of fall foliage. I asked the children if doing things all by yourself is easy or difficult and we all agreed that some self-help skills can be difficult. I Can Do It Too! by Baicker explores such challenges as dressing, baking, and dealing with wounds with humor and understanding of the young child's desire to be independent. Our large book version of Where's Spot by Hill is a big favorite, as the children search each picture flap for the answer as to where Spot may be hiding. They like making the animal sounds as different animals appear under the flaps. Lift-the-flap books are really fun for toddlers who enjoy the fun of finding hidden objects.
Posted by Sue at 7:24 PM
October 19, 2006
Pumpkin Storytime
(For 2.5-3.5 Year Olds)
Almost every child has a pumpkin at home in preparation for Halloween! In fact, some have TEN (or so they tell me). I guess you need a lot when the squirrels keep eating them (as I was also informed).
- It's Pumpkin Time, by Zoe Hall, illustrated by Shari Halpern. Another vivid horticultural tale from this author-illustrator team. This time the kids are growing pumpkins!
- Sixteen Runaway Pumpkins, by Dianne Ochiltree, illustrated by Anne-Sophie Lanquetin. Sam's wagonload of pumpkins takes a spill. What to do with the smashed up pumpkins?
- Plumply, Dumply Pumpkin, by Mary Serfozo, illustrated by Valeria Petrone. Peter carefully selects a pumpkin to carve into the perfect jack o'lantern.
We sang "Ten Little Pumpkins" (to the traditional tune), "The Itsy Bitsy Spider", "Spider on the Floor", and "Two Little Blackbirds." Spiders and blackbirds are good seasonal critters! We also did some pumpkin action rhymes. This one, taught to me by fellow librarian Kathleen, went over especially well:
Pumpkin, pumpkin, sitting on a wall
(use one arm as a wall, and make your other fist a pumpkin)
Pumpkin, pumpkin, tip and fall!
(rock the "pumpkin" until it falls off)
Pumpkin, pumpkin, rolling down the street
(rolling motion with hands)
Pumpkin, pumpkin, trick or treat!
(make a "surprise" motion with your arms)
For our craft, we made jack o'lanterns, the likes of which would have made Picasso and Miró proud.
Next week: Halloween!
Posted by Lisa at 4:25 PM
October 18, 2006
Counting is Fun!
(For 1.5-2.5 Year Olds)
We always have fun counting in our storytime. Using the book Ten in the Den by Butler, we sang along with this classic song, counting the cute critters. I demonstrated that this song can be a fingerplay as well. Ten Little Fish by Wood has illustrations similar to a Disney film, which adds enjoyment to counting the luminous sea creatures. The children always enjoy the large books. Peanut Butter and Jelly by Westcott is a charming rendition of another classic song that can be a fingerplay as well. A funny version of this song is found on the CD by Sharon, Lois, and Bram called Great Big Hits!
Posted by Sue at 12:36 PM
Autumn Leaves
(For 3.5-5 Year Olds)
One of the books I read this week was Nuts by Paula Gerritsen. When a mouse tries to gather tasty nuts for the coming winter, they're all blown away by a bad storm. This is one of those short picture books that is deceptively simple and actually has a lot of suspense and dramatic tension. Both of my groups enjoyed it. I also brought out a tried and true old favorite, Silly Fred by Karen Wagner. When the Beaver tells Fred he doesn't like him, the kids are always very attentive - and somewhat shocked. There's a happy ending, though (of course) and some good silly songs to sing as part of the story. The art project was to create an autumn tree using a big letter T (with the vertical line as the trunk and the horizontal line as the basis for branches) using paper scraps, pencils, markers, and crayons.
Posted by Lyn at 12:16 PM
October 12, 2006
Pets Storytime
(For 2.5-3.5 Year Olds)
Some kids have pets, and some don't, but either way it's fun to imagine having one! How about an elephant? As any 3-year-old will tell you, having an elephant is not practical. But maybe a boa constrictor instead...
Stories we read:
- I Have a Pet, by Shari Halpern - a series of children describes their pets, how they take care of them, and what they love of them.
- Emma's Pet, by David McPhail - Emma searches everywhere for a big, soft, cuddly pet, until she finds one very close to home.
- My Dog Toby, by Andrea Zimmerman and David Clemesha ; illustrated by True Kelley - A little girl's dog is wonderful in every way, except that he won't do any tricks.
Songs we sang:
- "Two Little Blackbirds" (Carole Peterson version)
- "The Itsy Bitsy Spider"
- "Spider on the Floor" (Raffi)
- "Pig on Her Head" (Laurie Berkner)
- "Shake Your Sillies Out" (Raffi)
Next week: pumpkins!
Posted by Lisa at 3:10 PM
October 11, 2006
Rabbits, Ducks and Chickens Are Cute!
(For 1.5-2.5 Year Olds)
Children enjoy watching babies act mischievous. In Overboard! by Weeks, a baby rabbit throws every single toy out of her crib. At storytime, we especially enjoy singing songs together. Many classic children's songs come in beautifully illustrated books, including Little White Duck by Whippo. Each stanza includes an animal sound children will enjoy producing. Children learn through mimicking others as they carefully watch what others do. The Chick and the Duckling by Ginsburg is an especially charming story because Chick imitates everything that Duck does. To his dismay, Chick learns that he cannot swim like Duck, because chickens and ducks are not exactly the same, even though they are very similar!
Posted by Sue at 9:52 AM
October 5, 2006
Apple Storytime
(For 2.5-3.5 Year Olds)
Almost every child loves apples. This is the perfect time of year to talk about them, as the farmer's markets become dominated by the cheery red, yellow, or green fruit...
The Apple Pie Tree, by Zoe Hall - traces the growth of an apple tree throughout the year, from bare branches, to leaves and blossoms, to fruit. Not only humans enjoy the apple tree; it provides shelter and food to a number of other creatures.
Ten Red Apples, by Pat Hutchins - a counting story that works well as a flannel board story, or with puppets (my choice). Children can help tell the story by identifying each animal that visits the tree and counting how many apples are left.
Apples and Pumpkins, by Anne Rockwell - a simple story about a family visiting a farm to pick, you guessed it, apples and pumpkins.
If you search the Internet, you will find that there are numerous apple-themed action rhymes out there! We did these two:
1. Way up high in the apple tree (stretch way up)
Two red apples smiled at me. (hold up two fists)
I shook that tree as hard as I could. (shaking motion)
Down came the apples -- (downward motion)
Mm, they were good! (rub stomach)
2. This is the tree with leaves so green. (hold arms out, wiggle fingers)
These are the apples that grow in between. (hold up fists)
When the wind blows, the apples will fall. (blowing and falling motions)
Here is a basket to gather them all! (hold arms in a circle)
At craft time, we glued die-cut trees and people onto blue paper, then put round red, green, and yellow stickers on the trees as apples!
Next week: pets...
Posted by Lisa at 12:17 PM
October 4, 2006
Traveling is Fun
(For 1.5-2.5 Year Olds)
The children enjoyed the large book version of Freight Train by Crews because trains are very exciting and we can make neat train sounds together. I asked the children to identify the color of each part of the train. They always enjoy it when we name colors together. The Bridge is Up by Bell has beautiful illustrations and is an exciting story for kids that like vehicles! A bus, a car, a motorcycle, etc. wait for a bridge to go up in order to cross a pond. Where is the Green Sheep by Fox is a very popular book for it has very funny pictures and keeps the kids guessing - where is that green sheep anyway? Find it on the last page of the book, sleeping under a tree. Again, the children enjoy identifying colors in this clever book. Donald Crews and Mem Fox are popular authors in the picture book area.
Posted by Sue at 10:40 AM | Comments (2)
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