Let's Have a Picnic!
Hello song: Hello Friends
Again, I ended up borrowing most of my songs from Jbrary. This song incorporates some American Sign Language (ASL), so it added another learning dimension to the song. 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.
Book: The Best Picnic Ever by Clare Jarrett
This book is about a boy, Jack, who is waiting for his mom to set up a picnic. As he's waiting, he meets a bunch of animal friends, and they all ask him to play. This gives me an opportunity to ask the children to identify each animal as they play with Jack. At the end, all of the animals are invited to the picnic, and the children help me identify the foods they are eating.
Song: Fruit Salad
This is another fun tune I borrowed from Jbrary. As they mention in their video, it is a great way to practice breaking words down into syllables and hearing the small sounds of each word. It is also great for building vocabulary, because you can use it with so many unique and obscure fruits!
This is one of the silliest books. I usually get some good giggles out of it. Our main character, the watermelon-obsessed crocodile, can't help but get woozy when he swallows a seed. He imagines it growing inside of him, even worrying his skin will turn pink! (The grown-ups often laugh as much as the kids do!)
Thanks yet again, Jbrary! This song is fun because it uses scarves. I had to DIY my own scarves since I realized our library actually doesn't own any! (I just started doing storytimes at this library, where I've worked since May.) I love the fingerplays you can do with the scarves - it is especially good for little hands working on fine motor skills as you put the kernels in the pot (ball up the scarf in your fist) and then shake it -- but of course the most fun is the end where the kernels POP! and they get to throw their scarves up in the air!
A hilarious story about some wild boars who decide to make a massive pudding! This is a great book for talking about table manners.
Song: If you're happy and you know it...
We went through many emotions: happy, sad, tired, and... hungry. We ended on that last verse, appropriately!
As we were getting towards the end of our storytime, I realized I shouldn't have saved this one for last. It's a fun book, and kids can say "Hooray for bread!" with you, but it does drag on a little when it is placed towards the end. I'm thinking maybe it would have been better as an opening book.
This song can be really successful in your crowd, once everyone gets the hang of what to do! The kids first crouch down on the floor and when I say "POP! go the berries..." They jump up. Luckily, you can substitute different berries in each time you sing it, and so you can go about 3-4 times, and by the end everyone has the hang of it.
A great book to learn counting skills. The pop-ups really pull your little audience in! Good to use at the end of storytime, to catch all of those wigglers' attention.
Goodbye Song: Bread, Butter, Marmalade & Jam
Instead of "hello" we simply substituted "goodbye". This is getting to be a favorite!
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Handouts:
- plan & song lyrics
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