Love!

2s & 3s Storytime: Love!

Hello Song: Little Round Bubble

Book: That’s Love by Sam Williams

Song: Skinnamarink

Book: A Hug is for Holding Me by Lisa Wheeler

I LOVE this book. It is brand new, and beautiful. It worked perfectly for the 2s and 3s storytime. At the end of reading this book, I asked all the children to get up and find their grown-ups and give them a hug. It was so sweet and the caregivers loved it!

Song: We’re Building a Better World

We're building a better world (x3)
One person at a time. 

Chorus:
And the world goes round and round,
the world goes round and round and round. (x2) 

We're building a world with love (x3)
One person at a time 

Chorus
(with hugs, friends, and more suggestions the kids might have!)  

Rhyme Time & Stretches
Stretcher: Wiggle Your Fingers
Stretcher: Head Shoulders Knees and Toes 

Rhyme: Roly Poly 

Last Book: A Kiss Means I Love You by Kathryn Allen

Last Song: Love Somebody, Yes I do!

Love somebody yes I do,
Love somebody yes I do,
Love somebody yes I do
but I won't tell who. 

Jiggle like jelly yes I will,
jiggle like jelly yes I will,
Jiggle like jelly yes I will,
Jiggle like jelly
'cause I can't sit still. 

Climb a ladder, oh so high,
climb a ladder oh so high
Climb a ladder oh so high
till I touch the sky.

Goodbye Song: The More We Get Together

Goodbye Bubbles

Fish and Bubbles

2s & 3s Storytime: Fish and Bubbles Storytime

Hello Song: Little Round Bubble

Book: Fish Eyes by Lois Ehlert

Song: Bubble, Bubble, POP!

One little red fish
Swimming in the water,
Swimming in the water,
Swimming in the water.
One little red fish
Swimming in the water,
Bubble, bubble, bubble, bubble...POP!

Count up to 5, and ask the kids to help you name different colors!

Book: Hooray for Fish by Lucy Cousins
I experimented with this one... I tried to play the "song" version of the book (on youtube, sound only, no video) while flipping thru. Honestly I think it goes way too fast. So I wouldn't do it again. But it might be fun to sing with kids, especially if you all know the words really well.

Song: Slippery Fish
I showed real laminated photographs on my felt board for each marine animal that we sang about.

Slippery fish, slippery fish
sliding through the water
Slippery fish, slippery fish
Gulp, gulp, gulp
oh no, its been eaten by a... 

octopus, octopus squiggling in the water
octopus, octopus
gulp, gulp, gulp
oh no, its been eaten by a... 

tuna fish, tuna fish
flashing through the water
tuna fish, tuna fish
gulp, gulp, gulp
oh no its been eaten by a... 

Great White Shark, Great White Shark
lurking in the water
Great White Shark, Great White Shark
gulp, gulp, gulp
oh no, its been eaten by a... 

Humongous whale, humongous whale
spounting in the water
Humongous whale, humongous whale
gulp, gulp, gulp

Wiggle release and rhyme time:
1. Wiggle and Wiggle and Stop
2. Wiggle Your Hands Way Up High…
3. Head Shoulders Knees and Toes
4. Roly Poly

Book: (will come back to this... can't remember and didn't have it in my notes!)

Song: The Fish in the Sea (to the tune of "The Wheels on the Bus")

The fish in the sea
Go swish, swish, swish, (wave scarf side to side)
swish, swish, swish, swish, swish, swish
The fish in the sea go swish, swish, swish
All day long. 

Verses:
Dolphins in the sea
Swim round and round (paint circle in front of you with scarf)
The waves on the sea
Go up and down, (wave scarf up and down)

Goodbye Song: The More We Get Together

Goodbye Bubble Play

Winter

2s & 3s Storytime: Winter

Hello Song: Little Round Bubble


Book: One Mitten by Kristine O’Connell George


Song: 5 Little Snowmen

For a little fingerplay, use your fingers to count down from 5, or you can make this into a felt board song, with 5 felt snowman and take them off as you go.

5 little snowmen, all in a row.
Each with a hat. And a big, orange nose. (point to head, nose)
Out came the sun. And it stayed all day. (big round arms over head)
And one of those snowmen melted away. (fingers coming down, like rain)
4 little snowmen… (continue counting down)

Book: Winter Lullaby by Barbara Seuling

Song: There’s Something In the Snow

There’s something in the snow, now what can it be?
There’s something in the snow that I can’t really see.
Hear its funny sound…HOWL HOWL HOWL
A wolf is what I found!

CAW CAW CAW, A cardinal is what I found!
GRR GRR GRR, A bear is what I found!
WADDLE WADDLE WADDLE, A penguin is what I found!

Continue with any animal you would like. I have everyone pat their knees as they sing. It is great to get a good rhythm going to this tune! I also printed off and laminated photos of each animal (real photos) and held them in my lap. They had to guess the animal based on the sound I made, so once they got the sound, I would hold up the photo. If they couldn't guess it, then I would hold up the photo and then they would get it!


Wiggle release and rhyme time:
1. Wiggle and Wiggle and Stop
2. Wiggle Your Hands Way Up High…
3. Head Shoulders Knees and Toes
4. Roly Poly


Book: Winter: A Pop-Up Book by David A. Carter

Song: Dance Like Snowflakes (with scarves).

Sing it: Slow, Fast, Loud, Quiet, Up, Down 

Dance like snowflakes, dance like snowflakes
In the air, in the air
Whirling, twirling snowflakes
Whirling, twirling snowflakes
Everywhere, everywhere

Goodbye Song: The More We Get Together 

(with signs for only the words "more" and "friends")

Transportation

Preschool Outreach Storytime: Transportation

Hello Song: Bread Butter Marmalade & Jam

When I go to preschool outreach visits, I always use this song for hello and goodbye. It is so much fun to sing! The kids always love it, especially the "let's say hello as loud as we can!" part. They get the opportunity to keep a practice keeping on rhythm and thinking about opposites. The strategy is to end on "as quiet as we can" so I can quickly start talking and introduce the first story. :)

Book: Row Your Boat by Jane Cabrera

Song: Zoom Down the Highway!

Zoom down the highway
Zoom down the highway
Zoom down the highway
Fast! (Clap)
Up goes the drawbridge
Up goes the drawbridge
Up goes the drawbridge
The ship is going past.
Down goes the drawbridge
Down goes the drawbridge
Down goes the drawbridge
The ship has past at last. (so now we can…)
Zoom down the highway
Zoom down the highway
Zoom down the highway
Fast! (Clap)

Book: My Truck is Stuck by Kevin Lewis

Song: City Bus

A hip, a hip, a hippopotamus
Got on, got on, got on a city bus
And all, and all, and all the people said,
"You're squishing us!" (hug)
A sheep, a sheep, a sheep got on a city bus
and all, and all, and all the people said,
"Baaaack up!" (lean back)
A cow, a cow, a cow got on a city bus
And all, and all, and all the people said,
"Mooooove over!" (lean side to side)

Book: I Love Trains! By Philemon Sturges

Song: Chuggin’ (I wrote this one!!)

1 little blue train chuggin’ down the track…
chuggin’ down the track, chuggin’ down the track,
1 little blue train chuggin’ down the track…
chugga chugga chugga chugga CHOOOO CHOOOO!  (use train whistle)
(Up to 5)

Goodbye Song: Bread Butter Marmalade & Jam

Winter Sweets

Preschool Outreach Storytime: Winter Sweets

I had an interesting "challenge" with planning this storytime visit. One teacher wanted me to incorporate ice cream into the storytime because they were doing a unit on it. Well, the other 2 classes I was seeing that morning were not, but to make life easier on myself I like to do variations on the same them in each room. Here is what I came up with: winter sweets!!

Book: The Reader by Amy Hest

What I like about this book is there is a sweet little narrative storyline that is simple enough for young toddlers to follow. I read this with a group of 3 year olds who were enchanted with it. Then the bigger preschool kids absolutely loved it, as well!

Song: Keep Me Warm! (Tune: Wheels on the Bus)

The mittens on my hands
Keep me warm, Keep me warm, Keep me warm
The mittens on my hands
Keep me warm,
All winter long...

Other verses:
The hat on my head
The scarf around my neck
The boots on my feet 

Book: A Splendid Friend, Indeed by Suzanne Bloom
If I had to do it again, I wouldn't read this book. It takes a lot of explaining, and with my 3s, although they did get a lot of it, they weren't as engaged. I chose it because they drink hot cocoa together at the end, haha.

Song: The Hot Cocoa Song 

I used a bear puppet and 5 "coins" I made out of buttons. I ask 5 children to come up and be helpers. I only do this with the older preschool kids (4 and up). I give each child a "cup of hot cocoa" (cut outs, laminated) and then sing the song:

Down around the corner at the chocolate shop
FIVE cups of cocoa, sweet & hot!
Along comes bear with some money to pay.
He buys himself some cocoa & takes it away…

So then I have bear give a "coin" to the first child and then he sips and burbs (laughs ensue) and says excuse me. Then that child sits down and we do it all over again until there's no more hot chocolate left, and bear is full. :)

Song: The Milkshake Song (with shaker eggs)
Always do this song last! It's great but they get really wound up. I suppose it could be a good half-way-thru-storytime-wiggle-release-song BUT you would have to have a good plan for settling them back down. :)

You take a little milk, pour some milk
And you take a little cream, pour some cream
You’ll stir it all up
You’ll shake it and you’ll see...
Milkshake, milkshake shake it up, shake it up
Milkshake, milkshake shake it all up!
Milkshake, milkshake shake it up, shake it up
Milkshake, milkshake shake it all up!

Other books read with 4s and 5s (not with the 3s)
  

I'm back!

This is my first new content after taking a 3 year break from this blog!! To give you a quick update, I am now working as the Preschool & Daycare Liaison at a public library in the north burbs. We border Chicago city limits, so it is an interesting demographic who uses out library. However I only serve preschools and daycares in our library's district.

I will blog about the outreach storytimes I present, as well as the 2s & 3s storytimes I do in-house, on a rotating basis. I start those up again next week, hooray!

Anyway, back to it :)

My Process Art Program: Art in Motion

Art in Motion was a monthly process art program that I taught for ages 3-5 (preschool age). Each Art in Motion program started with a few stories and songs/stretchers, incorporating early literacy into the class.

We then moved on to the art project, which took up the majority of the class, giving children the opportunity to have sensory experiences and develop fine motor skills. I encouraged caregivers to let children explore the process of making art. By moving the focus away from the child's final art product, we are separating the conformist expectations adults often project onto art, from the pure joy children receive from the mere experience of creating.

Art in Motion concluded in April 2015.

A is for Art (October 2014)

B is for Big Blot (November)

C is for Collage (December)

D is for Drip...Draw...Drip (January 2015)

E is for Explore the Effects (February)

F is for Fingerpaint (March)

G is for Growing a Gallery (April)

Process Art Resources

My favorite blogs for Kid's Art Inspiration:

• Tiny Rotten Peanuts: Art Projects for Kids 0-6
• The Artful Parent
• Two Daloo
• The Carle Museum: Making Art with Children
• Deep Space Sparkle
• Art is Basic: Inspiration for a Creative Childhood
• The Library As Incubator Project (children's page) - this is also a great storytime/all-around library program resource
• Fun at Home with Kids
• Hello, Wonderful
• Apex Elementary Art
• Teach Preschool (art page)
• Early Activities & Projects
• Babyccino Kids
• E is for Explore (good for grade school kids and inspiration for including STEAM elements in your programs)
• Inner Child Fun
• Bloesem Kids (you have to do more weeding through this blog, but there is some good stuff here)
• Art Bar Blog
• Happy Hooligans
• Babble Dabble Do

More information about Process Art:

• Process Art Breaking Free From Crafts
• Art is Not a Receipt for Childcare
• What is Process Art for Kids & Why is it Important?
• Children's AUTHENTIC Art vs. Classroom Craftivities (good visual explanation)