Outreach to Headstart

I had an outreach today to Head start and Early head start. I like going but I am so tired afterwards.

I did a bit of fall and a bit of Halloween. I just used my uke and it worked great for HS but by the time I got to EHS my voice was starting to go. I did my Fall is not Easy flannel for both.

The HS teacher said "You're getting better at storytime". Which annoyed me no end but it is because they tell us what to do when we are there. (no sitting for more than 15 minutes etc) so I have learned what they like. Also, just having my uke was better since they didn't have to wait for me to put in the music or find it on my ipad.

Flannel Friday - Fall is not Easy by Kelley

I finally got around to making my own flannel for Fall is not Easy ! My library doesn't own the book so I was borrowing it every year so I could use it in my fall storytimes. Now I have my own. I saw "Storytiming" and "narrating tales of preschool stortime" had done this book as a flannel so I knew it would be great!

Here is my take on the book:

Toddlers - Fall!

I had my uke so I did my babies songs for opening and closing:

The more we get together
 Book – Mouse’s first fall by Thompson
 - perfect for this age (18 months to 3 years old)
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,
  Autumn leaves are whirling round,
  All around the town.
they like this one so much we did it again!

 Flannel – 5 little pumpkins sitting on a fence
- not great, just ok

 Book - Who Loves the Fall?by Raczka
- a good one since I talked about vocabulary and how to learn more words

Song - Shake your Sillies out &
 If you're happy and you know it ending with If you want to hear a story.(on uke)
 Book- Old Bearby Henkes
 - maybe a bit long for the last one.

 Song – California Dreamin’ (with scarves)
 - pretty good, the grandma and grandpa were not pleased but everyone else seemed to like it.

 Closing - May there always be sunshine and Oh What a miracle.

 With new songs I do them fine with no one is there but always mess up when there are folks in the room. Ugh!

Kid names: Jessee, Katie, Ellie, Carter, Addie, Hazel, Taxi Driver (what was his name?), Cassidy

Library visit by First Graders

I had two classes of first graders today. They walk to the library and have a tour, story, craft, and check out books. It went pretty well. I only had time for one book so I read No Pirates Allowed! said Library Lou by Greene. Then we did Jim Gill's List of Dances. They are so different from the toddlers, it is fun to do a long story.

Toddler storytime - Cats!

I was a bit tired today so this wasn't my best but it was far from my worst either. It was okay.

Plan:
Open shut them
Castle Full of Cats by Sanderson
   This is a brand new book that I picked up off of our new book shelf and just had to use it today. It might have been a little bit too old for this group but the parents enjoyed it.

Flannel - Three Little Kittens

Shake your sillies out - Raffi

Flannel/Book - Pete the cat and his 4 Groovy Buttons
   I did this with a flannel Pete and read the book. It kept the kids interested and singing their song!

Book - Feathers for Lunch - by Ehlart
   Mostly lost them at this point.

Shakers to The Cat Came Back by Laurie Berkner
   They liked this one

I misplaced my cd for my usual closing song (it fell behind something) so I did this for my closing:

I"m a little kitty cat
Soft and small
I like to climb or chase my ball.

If you pick me up and rub my fur
You can hear me purr purr purr!

It was a bit short but they were having much trouble with paying attention today.

Pete the Cat is Groovy!

This was a Saturday special for preschoolers. This means I didn't expect many kids but might get some babies.
I had 4 kids from 2 families. Their ages were 3,4,5, and 6.

Here is what I did:

You're a Real Cool Cat - Jbrary
Pete the Cat and his white shoes
Pete the Cat - Wheels on the Bus
Flannel Story of Pete the Cat and his 4 Groovy Buttons
Draw and Tell - The Black Cat
Kitty Hokey Pokey
If you're happy and you know it
Pete the Cat and his Magic Sunglasses
Laurie Berkner's The Cat came Back with instruments
Oh What a Miracle by Hap Palmer

For our craft we did a paper bag puppet of Pete the Cat

This went very well. They didn't really like the Draw and Tell...somehow they never go over as well as I would like. I read and sang Wheels on the bus while they did the motions and sang. Very good. All in all a great storytime...I will do parts of it next week since none of my usual kids came today.

Socks and Shoes - Toddler storytime

I am a bit under the weather today so this might have been better if I was feeling better but it was okay.

Opening song: Open Shut them
Shoe Baby by Dunbar
   Love this one! Very cute!

Action Song: Wake up Toes

Duck Sock Hop by Kohuth

Flannel Board Game - Sock Matching (like this)
   They loved this but some were a bit young to understand the concept. I made 19 pairs of socks and handed out one per kid. Then they came up to the flannel board when I showed their matching sock.

Song with Instruments: Runaway Shoes by Caspar Babypants

Closing Song: Oh what a miracle! by Palmer