Baby Bear

Today our story time theme was BEARS! Even though it was an extra small crowd today we still had alot of fun!

Let's jump right into our first book: The Bear Hug by Sean Callahan. I absolutley love this book about a little cub and his grandpa doing bear activities including the family tradition of bear hugs.

Next up was Thank You Bear by Greg Foley. This one is short and sweet. I think it sends a good message about not listening to the naysayers out there.

We then did Ten little teddy bears. I found some clipart I thought was cute and laminated it. I put magnets on the back so it would stick the chalk board. As we sang the song I placed the bears under the appropriate number I had drawn in chalk on the board. The second time through the song I had some helpers help me put them up.

Ten Little Teddy Bears

One Little, Two Little, Three Little Teddy Bears

Four Little, Five Little, Six Little Teddy bears

Seven Little, Eight Little, Nine Little Teddy Bears

Ten Little Teddy Bears at story time today!

We HAD to read the classic Brown Bear, Brown Bear by Bill Martin Jr. You can really get the kids involved by having them tell you what sounds the animal makes or by having them help you point out all the animals at the end.

Our craft ties in with my stick puppets I used for a little rhyme I made up:

Five Little Bears

5 little bears playing outdoors, one ran away and then there were 4.

4 little bears running from a bee, one got stung and then there were 3.

3 little bears wondering what to do, one went to the river and then there were 2.

2 little bears having some fun, one got tired and then there was 1.

1 little bear and no more sun, went home to his mama and then there were none!

I gave each bear a different color shirt and glued the lines to the back of the bears. EASY PEASY! The kids were getting antsy at this point so we moved along to the fun part, THE CRAFT!

The craft is called Build a Bear Puppet. I preglued the sticks to save time and make it so much easier on the parents. One of the parents pointed out the possibility for so many other animals using those sticks.

Now I Know My ABC's!

Today we read about the alphabet!

First story up was the classic, Chicka Chicka Boom Boom! By Bill Martin Jr. Always a hit! I even saw one of the little ones wiggle waggling when the letter did!

We had a good crowd this morning so we launched right into the next book Click Clack Quackety Quack By Doreen Cronin. Since this once is short I tried to point different items on the page or add a funny sound here and there.

Next we sang the Alphabet song while I pointed out the ABCs on the boarxd. I just typed them up in publisher and made a poster. Although, I do have to admit I felt silly that I didn't notice until AFTER story time started that I had forgot the K. Boy, was my face red but noone seemed to notice thank goodness. Next time I will definitely have someone ELSE proofread!

Final story of the day was Old Black Fly by Jim Aylesworth. For some reason I was worried this one wouldn't go over well but the toddlers were entranced by this one. Everytime I would tell say the "Shoo fly! Shoo fly! Shooo!" part one little girl would say it too and had the whole group cracking up!

We did one last song for the day:

A B C Tumble down D

Cat's in the cupboard

And can't see me

(play peek-a-boo)

A B C Tumble down D

Cat's in the cupboard

And can't see me

(play peek-a-boo)

I said the rhyme once while demonstrating and then had everyone do it with me.

Today's craft was found on The Crafting Chicks Blog: Mini "Chicka Chicka Boom Boom" Trees
If you scroll down to the bottom of the post you will see the instructions. The only difference on my version was that I stapled the paper on beforehand and it doesn't mention it out right but you need to cut a slit on the leaves so they can slide onto the tube. I found foam letters in the dollar store!

It's a ZOO in here!

Today's story time theme was It's a ZOO in here! The zoo is such an easy theme to talk to toddlers about because alot of them have been so they get the concept. They can point out animals they've seen before and talk about what noises they make.

Our first story was Two at the Zoo by Danna Smith. This is such a cute book about a trip to the zoo focusing on a boy and his grandpa. You can add lots of extras to this book by having them help you count the animals, telling you what noises they make or doing the movements the animals make. The kids liked this one, too!

Next up was the flannel board story I shared here a while back, Dear Zoo, based on the book by the same name. I left the pieces up on the board and the kiddos came up after they finished their crafts and we talked about the animals. Which was their favorite? Which would they like to keep at their house? What sounds do they make? Etc.

Our Second and Final Story was From Head to Toe by Eric Carle. This was the best out of all three in my opinion today. When I read what the animal could do, I would try it myself and ask if the kids could do it too.

The craft for today was a semi-collage giraffe. I just drew out a shape that i wanted for the head, ears, and neck and made a template. I made these eyes using circles I created in word and used black hole punched circles for the spots. I could have just added a black circle in word but i'm a glutton for punishment or as I like to tell everyone at work, "It's for the CHILDREN!" I just cut random size squares of brown construction for the mane and gave them crayons to add the giraffes spots.

Eventually I will try get a template on here for the giraffe if anyone would like one.

Until next week!

Puppies & Dogs

I'm bacckkkkk!

After a much needed month long break i'm back int he swing of toddler storytime! Today are theme was puppies and dogs.  I'm trying to start out this semester with an opener so the kiddos know when it's time to settle down and get ready for the stories. I use the classic Open them, Shut them.

Today, we were able to read three stories and do a flannel board since they were so receptive.

First book up to the plate was Dog's Colorful Day by Emma Dodd. They liked this one and I tried to pause before saying which spot number we were on so they could shout it out.

Second, was Bark, George by Jules Feiffer. This one is hysterical and let me play it up using alot of exaggeration when it came to the noises george would make and how far the doctor had to reach for the animals.

We did the Doggy, Doggy Where's your Bone? flannel board inspired by 1234morestorytimes. After the second time through, they got comfortable saying which animal we should pick next. They would giggle when they found out who had the bone!

Last story was Waggle! by Sarah McMenemy. Another cute one. All though this one is a little longer we went ahead and read it any way because we had more than enough time and the kids were digging it.

Our craft this week was a puppy puppet made using an envelope. When the kids would should me their puppet we'd see what noise he would make much like George did in the book.