Snow Storytime

School-Age Storytime

Books:
Snow Globe Family by Jane O'Connor
   This is a really cool story about a little family that lives inside a snowglobe. They are waiting for the day when the big family would shake the snowglobe and make a snowstorm so they could go sledding. This is a really fun story and it led in to our snowglobe craft.

Snow by Uri Shulevitz
  The kids really liked the illustrations in this book. Especially the "creepy" television reporter who they kept asking to see again and again.

Snowie Rolie by William Joyce
   The kids also enjoyed the illustrations of the magical snowy land in this book. The story is mediocre but it kept their attention.

Activity:
Crumpled Paper Snowball Fight

Divide kids into two teams and dump snowballs in the middle. Kids try to throw all the snowballs to the other teams side before time runs out.

They had fun with this activity but I couldn't judge the winner because they kept cheating :)

Craft:
Snowglobes with couscous snow.

Snow Storytime

Preschool Storytime

Opening Song:
The Popcorn Song by Laurie Berkner

Activity/Stretch:
Small Tall

Rhyme:
With our ears we will listen,
With our eyes we will look,
It's time to read a book!
Shhhhhh!
(with appropriate signs)

Books:
Froggy Gets Dressed by Jonathan London
   Froggy books are always a hit. Of course the kids though it was great when he forgot his underwear.
A Hat for Minerva Louise by Janet Morgan Stoeke
   I love Minerva Louise and the kids were very vocal during this book, telling Minerva Louise what she was doing wrong. There's one part that leads into a good discussion on what clothing is appropriate in the winter.
Mouse's First Snow by Lauren Thompson
   I like the Mouse books but this one was my least favorite. But a couple kids commented on how much they love this story so that just goes to show how much I know.
Red Truck by Kersten Hamilton
  A little short for preschool storytime but there is a truck in it so of course the kids liked it.

Rhyme:
Start with 5 snowmen with removable noses.

5 chubby little snowmen,
Each had a carrot nose.
Along came a bunny,
And what do you suppose?
That hungry little bunny,
Was looking for his lunch,
And he ate one snowmans carrot nose,
Nibble, nibble, CRUNCH!

4 chubby little snowmen...

Craft:
Snowglobes with couscous snow.

Snow Storytime

Toddler Storytime

Click Here for the Full Toddler Storytime Outline

Books:
Oh! by Kevin Henkes
Bunny's First Snowflake by Monica Wellington

Flannelboard:
Start with 5 snowmen with removable carrot noses.

5 chubby little snowmen,
Each had a carrot nose.
Along came a bunny,
And what do you suppose?
That hungry little bunny,
Was looking for his lunch,
And he ate one snowman's carrot nose,
Nibble, nibble CRUNCH!

4 chubby little snowmen...

Song:
If All the Raindrops...

Craft:

Bug Storytime

Preschool Storytime

Books:
Tiny Little Fly by Michael Rosen
  This story is cute but I think the end gets a little confusing. I was waiting for something more exciting to happen.

Soup For One by Ethan Long
  The kids really enjoyed this book. They thought it was funny that the flies were in the soup and they liked the illustrations.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle
  All the kids had read this and were excited to tell me about it . They enjoyed reading along with me.

Little Bee by Edward Gibbs
  This is short and sweet and the kids liked guessing what was chasing each animal/person. One little boy even guessed the twist ending.

The Croaky Pokey by Ethan Long
  I read this one last because it requires the kids to stand up and dance the hokey (croaky) pokey. This one was really fun and all the kids were enthusiastic participants.

Song:
The Itsy-Bitsy Spider
The Big Humongus Spider
The The Teensy Tiny Spider

Shaker Song and Dance:
The Ants Go Marching by Ralph Covert

Craft:
Giant Fly Eye Hats

Snowglobe Craft

We did this snow globe craft today in Toddler Tales and the kids really enjoyed it. I used CD sleeves with a blue insert. The kids decorated the insert with snowmen and trees and then we added some Israeli Pearl Couscous as the snow. I taped the back flap shut and the kids could shake up their CD cases to make it snow.

Nighttime Storytime

School-Age Storytime

Books:
Bedtime Is Cancelled by Cece Meng
   This book was mediocre. The kids didn't seemed too impressed by it but they enjoyed it enough to listen attentively.

Oscar and the Mooncats by Lynda Gene Rymond
   This book gets a little creepy when the mooncats try to get Oscar to drink the moonmilk so he will be trapped on the moon forever. The kids seemed to like this one.

Activity:
Star Search-Find stars hidden around the room.
Star Catching- Catch stars (bubbles) in a cup.

Craft:
Shooting Stars

Shoes and Socks Storytime

Preschool Storytime

Books:
Dog in Boots by Greg Gormley
   This book is a little longer than what I prefer to read in preschool storytime but I read it first and they all sat quietly. It's a cute story about a dog who keeps trying different kinds of shoes before realizing the best shoes for him are his paws. The kids seemed to enjoy it too.

Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes by Eric Litwin
   I love, love, love this story. It's a perfect read aloud and the kids loved it too.

Sally and the Purple Socks by Lisze Bechtold
   This is a really cute story and we all really enjoyed it.

Whose Footprints? by Masayuki Yabuuchi
   This one is short but fun to read because the kids like to guess what animals belong to the footprints. 
Not a quiet story though, the kids will all be shouting out the answers.

Whose Shoes? by Stephen R. Swineburne
   The kids weren't very quiet for this story. They were pretty wound up from Whose Footprints? so I read it quickly and we moved on to the craft.

Fingerplay:
Start with five mice in a sock.

Hickory Dickory Dock,
5 mice inside my sock.
The clock struck one,
A mouse ran out,
Hickory Dickory Dock.

Hickory Dickory Dock,
4 mice inside my sock.
The clock struck two,
A mouse ran out,
Hickory, Dickory Dock.

Hickory Dickory Dock,
3 mice...

Craft:
Put shoes/socks on a cat.

Bumblebee Storytime

Toddler Storytime

Click here for complete Toddler Storytime outline.

Books:
Little Bee by Edward Gibbs
   This was a good length for a toddler read-aloud. Not their favorite book ever but they did listen pretty intently.

Panda Bear, Panda Bear, What Do You See? by Bill Martin Jr.
   I couldn't find another bee book I liked and I didn't have time to order an insect book so I read this and justified it by saying it was a rhyming book (bee and see), which was a stretch. But the kids really enjoyed this book. They loved the unique animals (ie. macaroni penguin and whooping crane) and they were all excited to point out their favorites at the end of story. One little boy liked it so much that he checked it out after storytime.

Rhyme:
Start with five bees and some flowers on the flannelboard.

5 little bees buzzing through the flowers,
5 little bees buzzing through the flowers,
5 little bees buzzing through the flowers,
Buzz, buzz, buzz, buzz, buzzzzzzzz! (One little bee flies away)

4 little bees....

Song:
Bumblebee (Buzz Buzz) by Laurie Berkner
Dance and catch Bubblebees! (Blow bubbles and  pretend they are bumblebees)

Craft:
Bumble B's

Cat Storytime

Toddler Storytime

Click here for complete Toddler Storytime outline.

Books:
Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes by Eric Litwin
Meeow and the Little Chairs by Sebastien Braun

Rhyme:
Start with 5 Kittens on the flannelboard and a dog puppet.

5 little kittens standing in a row

They nod their heads to the children so.
They run to the left, they run to the right.
They stand up and stretch in the bright sunlight.
Along comes a dog, who’s looking for fun.
M-e-o-w, did you see those kittens run!

4 little kittens...

Craft:
Glue shoes on Pete the Cat.

Fish Storytime

School-Age Storytime

Books:
Bright Stanley by Matt Buckingham
   This is an okay story but the book sparkles which makes it abit more exciting.
The Three Little Fish and the Big Bad Shark by Ken Geist
   The kids really enjoyed this story. And most of them figured out that it was based on the Three Little Pigs.
Rainbow Fish and the Sea Monsters Cave by Marcus Pfister
   An okay Rainbow Fish book. The kids seem to like Rainbow Fish because they know the character.
The Pout-Pout Fish by Deborah Diesen
   This is a really cute book and the kids liked repeating the "Blub-Bluub-Bluuub"  part with me.
Dogfish by Gillian Shields
   This was definitely the favorite of the fish books. The kids thought it was pretty funny.

Activity:
We made fishing poles with magnets and caught paper fish with paperclips attached to them.

Craft:
Sparkly Fish Puppets

Fish Storytime

Preschool Storytime

Books:
Bright Stanley by Matt Buckingham
   This is an okay story but the book sparkles which makes it abit more exciting.
The Three Little Fish and the Big Bad Shark by Ken Geist
   The kids really enjoyed this story. And most of them figured out that it was based on the Three Little Pigs.
Hooray for Fish! by Lucy Cousins
   A wonderful fish story with lots of unique and colorful fish illustrations.
Good Night, Little Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister
   Not my favorite of the Rainbow Fish books but the kids were excited to read another story about a character they all know.

Flanelboard Rhyme:
Start with 5 fish on the flannelboard.

5 little fish swimmin' in the water,
5 little fish swimmin' in the water,
5 little fish swimmin' in the water.
Bubble, bubble, bubbles, bubbles,
Splash! (One fish swims away.)

4 little fish....

Craft:
Aquarium Crowns