Saturday, December 05, 2015

Storytime @ Whole Foods: Animals in Autumn

For more information on my Whole Foods Storytime series, read the first entry.


Animals in Autumn





---

Note: I have learned a few things since I began these outreach storytimes. One of the major lessons I learned is that I need to do LESS books, and longer books towards the beginning. More songs, fingerplays, and other activities involving props are a good way to mix things up and get the wiggles out. Enjoy!


---



Hello song: Hello Friends
This is a wonderful song that I borrowed from Jbrary. It incorporates American Sign Language (ASL), which is fun to teach to the kids. I love the "friends" sign especially, because the way I describe it is "take both of your pointer fingers and have them give each other two hugs", which is adorable. To encourage all children to do the signs with me as I sang, I went over each individual sign and what it meant before we started singing. I also tried to explain a little bit about ASL, what it is used for (communicating with those who are deaf), and how it can also help little ones who aren't speaking yet communicate their needs and wants.


Warm-Up: Give Me 5!
I've started using this warm-up at the beginning and often times throughout storytime, when the children get wiggly and need to refocus on listening to a story (especially after a song)! It goes like this: 1. Eyes watching (make glasses around eyes with your hands) 2. Ears listening (put hands behind ears) 3. Voices quiet (point to mouth) 4. Body calm (Give yourself a hug) 5. Caring hearts (Put hand over heart)
I found this idea on the Jbrary blog (where, well, I pretty much learn about everything cool and awesome, and end up borrowing everything!), in a post that talks about kindergarten teacher wisdom, and one of the kindergarten teachers uses this "mantra" with her kids. It really works well for calming everyone down, and my regulars have just about got the hang of it so that I only need to ask them for numbers and they know what to do!


Book: The Busy Little Squirrel by Nancy Tafuri
I ADORE this book. From the repetition to the cute illustrations of each animal, it is a joy to read aloud. Plus, each animal makes a different sound, so we all say the animal sound together. It is short and sweet, and the repeated phrase "he was SO busy!" will be easily picked up by children and adults. 



Song/Rhyme: The Acorn Song (I'm a Nut)
I love doing movements to songs, so I added some of my own to this one. Here's how I do it:
I'm a little acorn small and round (hands above head, making a circle) / Lying on the cold, cold ground (bend over and reach down to the ground) / People always step on me (stomp) / That is why I'm cracked you see (wag finger and point at audience) / I'm a nut (click click) / I'm a nut (click click) / I'm a nut, I'm a nut, I'm a nut (click click)



Book: That Pup! by Lindsay Barrett George
Another cute read about a puppy who digs up all of a squirrel's acorns! After he realizes he was wrong, he helps the squirrel put them all back. 

Stretcher song: We Wiggle and Wiggle and Stop!
This is such a good little tune for getting the wiggles out. I've learned that by mid-storytime, it's a must! As Dana and Lindsey (Jbrary) mention in their video, it's a great song to teach kids how to follow directions. When I first started using this little stretcher in my storytimes, it took the kids a few tries to actually "stop" when I say "stop", but many of my regulars now know just what to do - it's great! Also, during this particular storytime, since we were using scarves, I had them wave their scarves as one activity (we wave and we wave and we stop). Many giggles during this little wiggle release!

Stretcher/Activity: Wave Your Acorns
You may remember this little activity/stretch from my very first post, in which I used shaker eggs to go along with this little mantra. The mantra originates, to my knowledge, from a storytime video posted by the New York Public Library in which the librarian did a little wiggle release that goes: "wiggle your hands way up high / wiggle them way down low / wiggle them side to side / wiggle them on your shoulders / wiggle them on your head / wiggle them on your belly / and then put them all to bed". 
Now, for this storytime, I had them use their Ellison-die cut-out acorns that I passed out. So it went like this: "wave your acorns way up high / wave them way down low / etc..." This is a great stretcher!

Stretcher/Activity: Two Little Acorns
This is an adaptation I made of a popular little rhyme called "Two Little Blackbirds" (visit the link to see Jbrary perform it). Instead of Blackbirds, I use Acorns to go with my theme. Instead of flying away, they roll away! Read my adapted lyrics in the handout (see link at bottom of this post).

Book: Winter Lullaby by Barbara Seuling
I love love love the illustrations in this book. Even if you were in sunny California, you would FEEL the crisp cool autumn air and hear the geese flying south overhead. The lyrics are that vivid and clear. The ONLY part I don't like about the book is that it is called WINTER Lullaby and not AUTUMN or FALL Lullaby, which I think it should be called... it's about what animals do in the autumn/fall to get ready for winter. Just my opinion! I think I feel this way because at the time I did the storytime, I wasn't ready for fall to be over with just yet! :) 

Song: Hoot Hoot Went the Little Brown Owl
Another cute song borrowed from Jbrary. They formed this song from the Little Green Frog song. It is really silly, and of course makes zero sense, which had everyone rolling with laughter!



Book: I Know It's Autumn by Eileen Spinelli
This is a nostalgic, simple, lovely book that makes me reminisce what it was like to experience autumn as a child. With minimal text and colorful illustrations, it is great read aloud for autumn. 









Song: Animals in Autumn
This is my first song that I wrote completely on my own! I don't have a video or anything of me singing it, but it does have motions. It goes by the tune of "Frere Jaques". Here are the lyrics with the motions for each line:

I am squirrel (I am a squirrel) - make two paws with your hands 
What should I eat? (What should I eat?) - put both your arms up and out at your sides, like you're confused 
I think I'll have some acorns (I think I'll have some acorns) - act like your eating something by taking your paws and pretending to nibble on some acorns 
MMM what a treat! (MMM what a treat!) - rub your belly :) 
I am a goose! (I am a goose) - make two wings with your arms & flap them 
Where should I fly? (Where should I fly?) - put both your arms up and out at your sides, like you're confused 
It's getting really chilly (it's getting really chilly) - shiver and hug yourself 
South I will fly (south I will fly) - point downwards 
I am a bear! (I am a bear) - make paws with claws with your hands 
What should I do? (What should I do?) - put both your arms up and out at your sides, like you're confused 
I'm getting really sleepy (I'm getting really sleepy) - yawn 
A hibernation should do! (A hibernation should do!) - rest your head on your hands

Goodbye Song: Bread, Butter, Marmalade & Jam
Instead of "hello" we simply substituted "goodbye". This is now my staple, and I use it every time because everyone LOVES it and know the lyrics to it, since I've done it so many times! 


Handout:
storytime plan / song lyrics

Monday, November 02, 2015

Storytime @ Whole Foods: Let's Explore Fall!

For more information on my Whole Foods Storytime series, read the first entry.


Let's Explore Fall!


 This is my favorite time of the year. I absolutely loved planning this storytime!



---

Note: I have learned a few things since I began these outreach storytimes. One of the major lessons I learned is that I need to do LESS books, and longer books towards the beginning. More songs, fingerplays, and other activities involving props are a good way to mix things up and get the wiggles out. Enjoy!


---


Hello song: I'm in the Mood for Singing
One of my favorite tunes, which has been growing on me, I often find myself randomly humming it when I'm not even at the library, haha. :) I love that you can swap out "singing" for "reading" and "listening" to mentally prepare all the little ones for what is ahead! I tend to mix up my hello songs that I do, but I have a rotation that I stick to, and this is one of them! Any way I can help the children find some sort of familiarity in my storytimes is good. Hopefully after doing my rotation of songs over and over, they'll begin to remember the lyrics (although many already have started to remember)!


Warm-Up: Give Me 5!
I've started using this warm-up at the beginning and often times throughout storytime, when the children get wiggly and need to refocus on listening to a story (especially after a song)! It goes like this: 1. Eyes watching (make glasses around eyes with your hands) 2. Ears listening (put hands behind ears) 3. Voices quiet (point to mouth) 4. Body calm (Give yourself a hug) 5. Caring hearts (Put hand over heart)
I found this idea on the Jbrary blog (where, well, I pretty much learn about everything cool and awesome, and end up borrowing everything!), in a post that talks about kindergarten teacher wisdom, and one of the kindergarten teachers uses this "mantra" with her kids. It really works well for calming everyone down, and my regulars have just about got the hang of it so that I only need to ask them for numbers and they know what to do!


Book: We're Going on a Leaf Hunt by Steve Metzger
This is a fantastic book for fall! I love the repetition (We're coming to a mountain - a TALL TALL mountain. We can't go under it. We have to go over it! Come on, let's go!) as the kids in the book troubleshoot each block in the road they come to along their leaf hunt. There are some great opportunities to get your little audience involved in this story! First, I like to have them say and do the motions with me, as the kids in the book go through their obstacle (for example, "Climb, climb, huff, puff, We made it!" = we all stomp and huff and puff). Also, as I'm reading "We're going on a leaf hunt, we're going right away, Let's find colorful leaves..." I ask everyone to repeat the last phrase in that passage, which is repeated throughout the book, "What a wonderful day!" All the grown-ups (myself included!) love hearing the little ones saying such a sweet thing. :) Lastly, (as if this book didn't naturally lend itself to enough audience interaction opportunities!) I have the children repeat the type of leaves the kids in the book find, which are all words that children probably wouldn't normally hear, giving me a chance to build up vocabulary; for example, leaves from the hickory, birch, maple, etc. tree.



Song/Rhyme: 5 Little Leaves
I adapted this from the "5 Little Pumpkins" rhyme, to fit with my theme. Here are the lyrics I came up with: Five little leaves hanging in the trees, The first one said, "Oh, my it's getting late." The second one said, "There's a chill in the air." The third one said, "But we don't care." The fourth one said, "Let's fly and fly and fly." The fifth one said, "I bet we can, if we try!" Ooooo! Went the wind, and out went the light. And the five little leaves flew out of sight!
I also used props with this. When everyone arrived, I had them take 2 cut-outs of leaves (maple and oak, cut from my Ellison Machine dies). When the "flew out of sight"  we dropped the leaves to the floor and everyone really loved that! 


Book: Who Loves the Fall? by Bob Raczka
This is another wonderful fall book, with beautiful, bold, recognizable illustrations, and simple/minimal text. At the beginning of the book, it was really fun to ask "who loves the fall?" because everyone shouted "ME!" :)

Stretcher/Activity: Wiggle Your Leaves Way Up High!
You may remember this little activity/stretch from my very first post, in which I used shaker eggs to go along with this little mantra. The mantra originates, to my knowledge, from a storytime video posted by the New York Public Library in which the librarian did a little wiggle release that goes: "wiggle your hands way up high / wiggle them way down low / wiggle them side to side / wiggle them on your shoulders / wiggle them on your head / wiggle them on your belly / and then put them all to bed". 
Now, for this storytime, I had them use their leaves that I passed out. So it went like this: "wiggle your leaves way up high / wiggle them way down low / etc..." This is a great stretcher!

Stretcher song: We Wiggle and Wiggle and Stop!
This is such a good little tune for getting the wiggles out. I've learned that by mid-storytime, it's a must! As Dana and Lindsey (Jbrary) mention in their video, it's a great song to teach kids how to follow directions. When I first started using this little stretcher in my storytimes, it took the kids a few tries to actually "stop" when I say "stop", but many of my regulars now know just what to do - it's great! Also, during this particular storytime, since we were using scarves, I had them wave their scarves as one activity (we wave and we wave and we stop). Many giggles during this little wiggle release!

Book: Count Down to Fall by Fran Hawk
When I first saw this book, I thought it would be a great storytime book. However, I was slightly wrong. Although the book's lyrics and illustrations are simply enchanting, it is not a book that children are easily engaged with. I lost a lot of attention spans while reading it, and realized I probably should have either saved it for an older crowd or not read it at all during storytimes. 

Song: Autumn Leaves are Falling Down
Another lovely song, borrowed from Jbrary. It is to the tune of "London Bridges are Falling Down" and there are 4 verses. For the first verse (falling down), I have them just take the leaves and float them down to their toes; second, the wind blows them round and round -make circles with the leaves; for the third they actually drop them from way up high (drifting gently to the ground); and for the fourth, we mime a rake and rake them up!


Book: Kitten's Autumn by Eugenie Fernandes
This is a really sweet book with simple, minimal rhyming text, and gorgeous mixed-media illustrations. I only wish it was a little larger in size! Fernandes also has 3 other kitten books, for the other 3 seasons of the year, which I can't wait to find and read!

Song: The Leaves on the Trees
This song is somewhat similar to "Autumn Leaves are Falling Down" - but that's okay with me! It is to the tune of "The Wheels on the Bus". Since we had leaf props, I used my red and orange leaves for the first verse. For the second verse, "twirling down" they dropped the leaves. And for the third "the leaves on the ground go swish swish swish" we knelt down and swish the leaves with our hands. It worked well! I love adding movements and fingerplays to songs, even if they originally don't have them - any way I can get the kids moving and releasing energy!!


Book: When the Leaf Blew In by Steve Metzger
Unfortunately, time was up and plus, everyone was just too wiggly for this one. Probably should have eliminated a book or song from this storytime. (I wrote the same thing for my last storytime, but forgot! Definitely sticking to 3 or 4 books in the future - I got too ambitious!)
However, this is another Steve Metzger title (he wrote the first one I read this storytime) and it looked like so much! I already could envision all of the opportunities to engage with my little audience during this book. Even though I didn't end up reading it, I did show it to the grown-ups afterwards and explained what a great book it was, just so they know! :)

Goodbye Song: Bread, Butter, Marmalade & Jam
Instead of "hello" we simply substituted "goodbye". Definitely turning into a favorite -- I get lots of giggles with this one!! 


Handout:
storytime plan / song lyrics

Tuesday, September 29, 2015

Storytime @ Whole Foods: Let's Explore Rain!

For more information on my Whole Foods Storytime series, read the first entry.


Let's Explore Rain!

It actually rained on the morning of and the day after this storytime, after not raining for a week and a half or so... this made me so happy! Hopefully kids and their parents can now have a conversation about the storytime and the fact that it actually is raining in real life!

---

Note: I have learned a few things since I began these outreach storytimes. One of the major lessons I learned is that I need to do LESS books, and longer books towards the beginning. More songs, fingerplays, and other activities involving props are a good way to mix things up and get the wiggles out. Enjoy!


---


Hello song: Wave Your Scarves (Hello)
This is another great tune that I've borrowed from Jbrary. Of course, I adapted it as a "hello" song. What a great way to get kids up and moving even at the start of storytime!  We went through the song twice, because during the first round, we still had lots of newcomers showing up. It gave them a chance to grab a scarf and find a spot. Also, I liked starting the storytime with my prop, because then everyone can just grab it on their own as they come in, and there's no rush mid-storytime to hand out the prop, which usually results in chaos (especially with a large group)! 
I had the kids to hang onto their scarves for pretty much the first half of storytime, and told them to sit on them during the stories, and they actually followed the direction quite well (was afraid they might be a distraction, but not too bad)!


Warm-Up: Give Me 5!
I've started using this warm-up at the beginning and often times throughout storytime, when the children get wiggly and need to refocus on listening to a story (especially after a song)! It goes like this: 1. Eyes watching (make glasses around eyes with your hands) 2. Ears listening (put hands behind ears) 3. Voices quiet (point to mouth) 4. Body calm (Give yourself a hug) 5. Caring hearts (Put hand over heart)
I found this idea on the Jbrary blog (where, well, I pretty much learn about everything cool and awesome, and end up borrowing everything!), in a post that talks about kindergarten teacher wisdom, and one of the kindergarten teachers uses this "mantra" with her kids. It really works well for calming everyone down, and my regulars have just about got the hang of it so that I only need to ask them for numbers and they know what to do!


Book: Rain by Linda Ashman, Illustrations by Christian Robinson
I absolutely love the illustrations and message in this book. This is the same illustrator who worked on Last Stop on Market Street, which I am also fascinated with. Bold, colorful and beautiful. The illustrations really get the message across that just because it is a rainy day doesn't mean you have to be grumpy about it (or anything else for that matter)! There are few words, but they were thoughtfully placed throughout the vibrant pages. I did quite a bit of talking, and adding interpretations, because I knew there were some families who couldn't see the pages well. If it was just me and a child reading quietly together, I wouldn't need to add so much of my own explanations when reading, but I felt storytime definitely called for a more thorough description of what was going on throughout the story. Overall just really wonderful.

Song: Rain on the Grass
A cute little rhyme from Jbrary, as usual, and a great way to use the scarves. This song is great because you can incorporate lots of different weather into it - not just rain - but also snow, leaves, sun.


Book: Rain by Manya Stojic
This is a great book for not only talking about how rain makes plants grow, but also for talking about the 5 senses. The animals talk about how they can "see, smell, feel, taste, and hear" the rain. Then, after it rains, they say they can't "see, smell, feel, taste, and hear" the rain anymore, but they can use their senses to perceive what the rain has brought (tasty fruit, cool mud, etc.). I also like how the book uses animal species that aren't normally talked about in picture books (baboon, for instance), which helps build vocabulary, and uses big bold font that you can see across the room!

Stretcher song: We Wiggle and Wiggle and Stop!
This is such a good little tune for getting the wiggles out. I've learned that by mid-storytime, it's a must! As Dana and Lindsey (Jbrary) mention in their video, it's a great song to teach kids how to follow directions. When I first started using this little stretcher in my storytimes, it took the kids a few tries to actually "stop" when I say "stop", but many of my regulars now know just what to do - it's great! Also, during this particular storytime, since we were using scarves, I had them wave their scarves as one activity (we wave and we wave and we stop). Many giggles during this little wiggle release!


Stretcher/Activity: Wave Your Scarves Way Up High!
You may remember this little activity/stretch from my very first post, in which I used shaker eggs to go along with this little mantra. The mantra originates, to my knowledge, from a storytime video posted by the New York Public Library in which the librarian did a little wiggle release that goes: "wiggle your hands way up high / wiggle them way down low / wiggle them side to side / wiggle them on your shoulders / wiggle them on your head / wiggle them on your belly / and then put them all to bed". 
Now, for this storytime, I had them use their scarves. So it went like this: "wiggle your scarves way up high / wiggle them way down low / etc..." This is a great stretcher!



Book: Maisy's Wonderful Weather by Lucy Cousins
Very few children haven't read a Maisy book - so this was a hit! I used it right after the stretchers because I knew it would draw their attention back to reading. There are lots of interactive pulleys in this simple weather book, with bright and colorful illustrations, as usual for Maisy, which also catch children's eyes and pull them into the book!


Song: Come Under My Umbrella
This is such a fun song! We didn't use all of the American Sign Language like Jbrary does in their video, but we used some. For the umbrellas, we held our scarves over our heads. But for everything else we used the signs from the video. I didn't tell the kids it was ASL, because I'm often afraid that I'm doing the signs slightly wrong and I don't want to teach the wrong thing, but maybe in the future (without scarves, using all of the ASL) I will deliberately explain that these are signs. We went through this song twice - it was a hit!


Book: Rain Play by Cynthia Cotten 
I really like this book. It rhymes, is short, and makes you remember how much fun playing in the rain was when you were a little kid. There are also parts that you can have the kids say with you - "plip plop, drip drop" - I only wish that the book was bigger so that the kids could see the illustrations better! Really wonderful, otherwise.

Song: Little Raindrops
A really quick song that gets kids up and moving! They also get practice understanding sounds: little raindrops = patting your knees, bigger raindrops = clapping your hands, giant raindrops = stomping! A really fun and interactive song.


Book: Jack, It's a Rainy Day by Rebecca Elgar 
Unfortunately, everyone was just too wiggly (and I ran out of time) for this one. Oh well, next time! Probably should have eliminated a book or song from this storytime.
Song: Mr. Sun
I told the kids that it was time for the sun to come out now that we're at the end of storytime! Such a happy classic little folk song (original by Rafi, but I just followed Jbrary's video). One family told me they recognized it from Barney. I'm really glad they could recognize and follow along!

Goodbye Song: Bread, Butter, Marmalade & Jam
Instead of "hello" we simply substituted "goodbye". Definitely turning into a favorite -- I get lots of giggles with this one!! 

Handout:
storytime plan / song lyrics

Monday, September 28, 2015

Storytime @ Whole Foods: Let's Get Messy!

For more information on my Whole Foods Storytime series, read the first entry.


Let's Get Messy!



Note: I have learned a few things since I began these outreach storytimes. One of the major lessons I learned is that I need to do LESS books, and longer books towards the beginning. More songs, fingerplays, and other activities involving props are a good way to mix things up and get the wiggles out. Enjoy!


Hello song: I'm in the Mood for Singing...
I love the different verses you can use with this song. We did singing, reading, and listening. I think it definitely helps everyone get into storytime mode!


Warm-Up: Give Me 5!
I've started using this warm-up at the beginning and often times throughout storytime, when the children get wiggly and need to refocus on listening to a story (especially after a song)! It goes like this: 1. Eyes watching (make glasses around eyes with your hands) 2. Ears listening (put hands behind ears) 3. Voices quiet (point to mouth) 4. Body calm (Give yourself a hug) 5. Caring hearts (Put hand over heart)
I found this idea on the Jbrary blog (where, well, I pretty much learn about everything cool and awesome, and end up borrowing everything!), in a post that talks about kindergarten teacher wisdom, and one of the kindergarten teachers uses this "mantra" with her kids. It really works well for calming everyone down, and my regulars have just about got the hang of it so that I only need to ask them for numbers and they know what to do!


Book: Say Hello Like This by Mary Murphy
Usually I don't read "hello" books - I find that my "hello" song is usually enough to get us started off. However, I stumbled upon this book when planning for this storytime, and had to use it. It is simple, bold, colorful, and has lots of opportunities to get kids interacting with the book. They can all meow, chirp, and hee-haw to say hello, and also point out which animal says what! It was great for getting the kids engaged and opening up at the beginning of the storytime.

Song: Bubble Bubble POP!
I adore this song. The kids can help you call out what color we should do for each fish. It also involves counting! So good.


Book: Dog’s Colorful Day by Emma Dodd
This book is, of course, a favorite. With many chances to shout out colors, it gives kids a lot of chances to interact with the book. I have done the flannel version in the past, but I haven't yet ventured into flannels with my outreach storytimes at Whole Foods. The flannel that goes with Dog's Colorful Day is usually more fun to use with smaller groups, because everyone can come up and put a color on dog when you get to each color in the story!

Stretcher song: We Wiggle and Wiggle and Stop!
This is such a good little tune for getting the wiggles out. I've learned that by mid-storytime, it's a must! As Dana and Lindsey (Jbrary) mention in their video, it's a great song to teach kids how to follow directions. It took everyone a few tries to get the STOP! down, but they did eventually get it! Many giggles during this little wiggle release.


Stretcher/Activity: Paint Way Up High!
You may remember this little activity/stretch from my very first post, in which I used shaker eggs to go along with this little mantra. The mantra originates, to my knowledge, from a storytime video posted by the New York Public Library in which the librarian did a little wiggle release that goes: "wiggle your hands way up high / wiggle them way down low / wiggle them side to side / wiggle them on your shoulders / wiggle them on your head / wiggle them on your belly / and then put them all to bed". 
Now, for this "messy" storytime, I handed out paint brushes and we used those. So it went like this: "paint way up high / paint way down low / etc..." It worked well. We did the exercise twice. It's a great stretcher!

Book: I Ain’t Gonna Paint No More! by Karen Beaumont
This book was a good follow up to the above stretcher/activity, Paint Way Up High! because it involves a character who is painting different parts of her body! So you can ask the kids to find their heads, back, arms, etc. One thing I will mention about this book is that I had a concerned parent approach me after storytime because it has the word "ain't" in it, and "ain't isn't taught to kids in school, so why would you want to teach it to them now?" - So, I explained that it is just silly, and that the book is a play off of the old folk tune "ain't gonna rain no mo'", but the parent was bemused and left with their opinions still in place. Oh well, what are you going to do? This is a part of storytime; sometimes people just want to share their opinions. 


Song: Swipe Your Brushes
I made this song up to the tune of Frere Jaques. This is the first song I've written for storytime, yay! However most of it is adapted from "Tap Your Sticks" that I borrowed from Jbrary. Heh heh. We used brushes as our props, instead of rhythm sticks, as you probably have already guessed. Anyway, my version goes like this: 
"Swipe your brushes, Swipe your brushes / 1 2 3, 1 2 3 / Can you paint a picture, Can you paint a picture / Just like me, Just like me / Swipe your brushes, Swipe your brushes / way up high, way up high / now let’s all bend down, now let’s all bend down / and paint the ground, paint the ground"


Song: Classic Alphabet Song (you know how it goes!) 
We sang this song in preparation for the next activity...

Activity: Alphabet "Painting" 
We pretended to paint letters of the alphabet with our brushes, as I called them out, on the floor in front of us. It was just a little activity I wanted to try, to see how the kids would handle it. They were pretty good! Parents really got involved in this one, which was nice. Who knows if everyone knew how to paint a letter G? I told them uppercase letters. But we ended on letter "O" so that everyone could feel good about at least painting one letter. ;)


Book: I’m Dirty! by Kate and Jim McMullan 
Moving on from painting, this is a messy book that everyone is sure to love. The truck in the book gets SO dirty and the sounds of the mess and the truck are just so fun to have everyone call out together! I put this one toward the end because it really helped to pull their attention back in. 

Action Song: This Is the Way...
Well, we sure got messy. Now it's time to clean up! This song was great for drawing our messiness to an end. I saw it on Jbrary, but I know it is a pretty popular tune. It goes like this: "This is the way we wash our arms, Wash our arms, wash our arms / This is the way we wash our arms, So early in the morning (other verses: tummies, elbows, heads, toes...)

Goodbye Song: Bread, Butter, Marmalade & Jam
Instead of "hello" we simply substituted "goodbye". Definitely turning into a favorite -- I get lots of giggles with this one!! 

Handout:
storytime plan / song lyrics