It’s Novemberrrr and the first storytime for the month was all about the letter N. I borrowed the idea of a letter themed storytime from a blog and loves, loves, loves it! The letter themed storytime is so much fun! Using this a starting point I am not strictly married to one theme, and can use this as excuse to revisit old books, introduce new titles and just find books, subjects, authors and more all about each letter of the alphabet!
Books read:
Mommy Doesn’t Know my Name by Suzanne Williams, Illustrated by Andrew Shachat
The Nightmare in My Closet written and illustrated by Mercer Mayer
The Napping House by Audrey Wood, Illustrated by Don Wood
The Noisemakers by Judith Casely
FIngerplays:
Shaking Your Shaker : to make Noise and we made lots of it using maracas, a tambourine and other homemade instruments
Craft:
Newspaper Hats
Storytime starts as usual:
Housekeeping:
Introduction and the rules.
What to expect, Welcome
-Introduction (for new and old storytime friends)
-Housekeeping
1: Where the B-A-T-H-R-O-O-M is. Bathroom is always spelled out as little bladders seem to get full upon mention of a toilet!
2. What to expect. If a child doesn’t want to sit still for storytime it’s OK, I just ask that they keep my story area clear.
3. My expectations (hey, if it’s not fun for everybody, including me then its not really fun!)
Warm-up:
I encourage every one to participate with the warm up, parents and children alike.
*Reach for the ceiling
Reach for the Ceiling”
Reach for the ceiling,
Touch the floor,
Stand up again,
Let’s do some more.
Touch your head,
Touch your knee,
Up to your shoulders,
Like this, you see?
Reach for the ceiling,
Touch the floor,
That’s all for now,
There is no more.
*I Clap My Hands
I Clap My Hands
I clap my hands clap hands
I touch my feet touch feet
I jump up from the ground. jump up
I clap my hands clap hands
I touch my feet touch feet
I turn myself around. turn around
I clap my hands clap hands
I touch my feet touch feet
I sit myself right down. sit down
I clap my hands clap hands
I touch my feet touch feet
I do not make a sound. sit quietly
Shhh!
The stories then begin!
Today I shared stories about my multiple names with the kids before we read Mommy Doesn’t Know my Name.. Although my name is Rachée, my mom calls me Missy, Mit, Mitala and a plethora of other things that is NOT Rachée!
Instruments were passed out to Shake our Shakers and we made lots of NOISE! After the instruments were collected, we read The Napping House and acted out parts of the book. There were lots of enthusiastic snoring for the grandmother, meows for the cat and barks for the dog!
To calm the crowd before beginning our next book we did our wiggler:
*Touch your Nose
Touch your nose, touch your chin,
That’s the way this game begins.
Touch your eyes, touch your knees,
Now pretend you’re going to sneeze (Achoo!)
Touch your hair, touch one hips,
Touch your two little lips (Swak!)
Touch your elbows where they bend,
That’s the way this touch game ends.
After this, bean bags were passed out and we read The Nightmare in My Closet. Full disclosure; I did a bit of censoring and substituted “get” for shot (the little boy in the book shoots the nightmare in an effort to get rid of him once and for all).
Because, 1) I don’t have 20 guns and 2) I think that the library should be a safe place, bean bags were passed out to shake at the monster to get rid of it.
We closed with our final rhyme:
Two little hands go clap, clap, clap
Two little arms lie in my lap
Two little feet go bump, bump, bump
Two little legs give one big jump
Two little hands reach oh so high
Two little hands wave bye, bye, bye
Afterwards we made paper hats (so wonderful in its simplicity that I cannot believe I have not made them before!?!?)
Loads of fun a great way to cure the Thursday Blahs!
-r
Me and a library friend modeling our hats
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